Thicker than Blood
by PaintedShadow
Summary: GSR Sara's life just got really complicated. With her nieces, friends, and now Grissom and Hank? I needed to change the summary, I didn't like the other one!
1. Chapter 1

PART ONE

ring ring

"Sidle" Sara answered sleepily.

"Hello Sara, are you still sleeping?"

_Just who I thought it would be, Grissom._

"Grissom, why are you calling me on my day off?" Sara responded aggravated.

"We have an overload of cases here and not enough people." Grissom paused, thinking of a way to get her in without argument. "And I have a high profile case here waiting for you when you decided to get here."

"Now why didn't you start off with that?" Sara smiled. "I'll be there in about 25 minutes."

Sara got dressed as quickly as possible. Wondering what the case was about. _He said that it's high profile. So many things it could be. _She finished getting dressed and walked out of her bedroom. Grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and left her apartment.

Driving towards the lab, she saw 3 police cars with lights and sirens speeding by. When arriving to the lab, Nick and Warrick were sitting on the back of the SUV talking about a case.

"Hey guys," Sara said as she passed them heading towards the doors of the lab. She didn't think anything of it until she walked into the lab and there was no sound. No sound at all. _This is odd, no, no, no, this is very odd!_ She thought. She walked by the reception desk but Judy wasn't there. She continued passing the A/V room, heading towards Grissom's office. She entered into his office to find him not there. She turns on her heel and wanders the halls of the lab. The thought that there isn't anyone here, inside is scary. Especially when Grissom said that there was an overload of cases including a high profile. She walked by DNA and Mia was there working on samples.

"Hey, have you seen Grissom, or Greg?"

"I haven't seen Grissom, but I saw Greg about an hour and a half ago, he came in with all these samples for me to test." Mia explained spreading her arms to show Sara all the samples. "Try calling them on their cells, one of them is bound to answer."

"Thanks." Sara hesitated before leaving.

She took her cell phone out of her pocket, dialed a number and heard it ringing. _Grissom, this is a time to pick up your phone! _Frustrated she closed her cell not waiting for it to go to voicemail. Walking back outside to where Nick and Warrick were, but stopping suddenly realizing that they weren't there anymore.

Now extremely irritated, she took out her cell and tried Grissom once again. After 3 rings, she slammed her phone shut. Thinking of what to do, she called Nick. Since he was just here, he should be able to her where he went. One, Two, Three, Four, Five…voicemail. _God dammit! Why aren't any of them answering the phones! This never happens. _Sara walks back toward the doors of the lab, but then her phone started to ring.

"Sidle."

"Do you know where Grissom is?"

"Ecklie?" Sara said in a droned tone.

"Do you know where Grissom is? He hasn't shown up at the scene yet?"

"No, he called me in because of the high profile case, and I am at the lab, but none of the CSI's are here." She paused for a minute. "Wait, what scene are you at?"

"Which one do you think I would be at Sara?" Ecklie stated.

"Right, can I come and help?" Sara responded quickly.

"Sure," Ecklie said in a hesitant tone. "Greg's heading back to the lab to drop off evidence for Trace and DNA, so you can catch a ride here with him."

"But that could take a while, so why don't you just tell me where this is and I will drive there myself." Sara argued.

"Sara, don't push your luck. Grissom is the one that called you to help on this case, he hasn't shown up yet, and I am not dealing with you unless I absolutely have to!" Ecklie said in a stern voice, snapping his phone shut.

Sara wasn't surprised about that. Ecklie never really liked her since she is so called favored by Grissom.

Sara went to sit in the locker room to wait for Greg. She dug out her book from her locker and started to read. She read through several pages but what seemed like a few seconds later, Greg quietly entered the locker room, "Ready to go?" Sara jumped up. Her book fell on the floor along with her cell phone.

"Don't do that!" Sara said in a startled tone and darting her glare at Greg. "You of all people know how much I hate being snuck up on!" Sara stated with a wide smile, like she was getting ready to laugh.

"I couldn't help it. And that what makes it so funny!" Greg said while smiling back at her.

"Let's go then." Sara said anxiously.

They walked out of the locker room and Greg hopped into the driver's seat of the SUV. Sara entered the passenger side. It took 20 minutes to get there. But another 5 minutes to work their way through the media crews and neighbors. Greg led Sara right to Ecklie, who was turning a faint shade of green. Sara was trying really hard not to laugh.

"So why is this place media frenzy?" Sara questioned

"Don't you watch the news, Sara?" Nick asked walking out from the front door.

"Of course she doesn't, she doesn't own a TV." Grissom said from the side of the house behind a bush.

"Grissom! Where have you been?" Sara and Ecklie said in unison. They glance at each other then stare back at Grissom.

"Ecklie, I hide from you every time there is a high profile case." He paused and then looked at Sara, "I told you when I called you that there was a high profile case that was waiting for you when you got here. I'm just surprised you didn't come sooner." Grissom said and went back to work.

"You never told me where the scene was. And I told you I'd be at the lab in 25 minutes. You said okay." Sara paused for a moment. "I've called your cell several times, and you never answered."

"How can you not have a TV Sara? This has been all over the news." Ecklie asked, thinking of something and turning to Grissom. "Grissom, how'd you know that Sara doesn't have a TV?... Wait, wait, I don't want to know." Ecklie shook his head.

"Ecklie, the reason I know is because she told me that." Grissom responded in a stern tone. His anger rising due to his co-workers assumptions. He does have feelings for Sara, strong feelings. He has since the day he met her. But he has never acted on them and doesn't plan to. His career is too important to get involved.

"So who is running this crime scene?" Sara waited patiently for someone to give her something to do.

"Can you go inside and process the second floor?" Grissom said pointing to the house.

When Sara arrived she didn't take time to look at the house. So she observed it before walking through the threshold. She followed Greg upstairs but stopped when she was on the second floor.

"Where are you going?" She looked at Greg in confusion.

"I'm processing the third floor, and once Warrick is done with the perimeter or if Ecklie ever decides to help, they'll be processing the fourth floor." Greg said in an irritated tone and continued to walk up the stairs.

Sara walked through the second floor to get familiar with it. She starts processing in a room that looks to be a guest room. There isn't much in it except a few painting and 2 black and white photographs that she recognized. She looked in the dresser but there wasn't anything in it. In the closet there were a few blankets a few children coats. She carefully walked through the hallway inspecting the walls and then walked back towards the stairs, now inspecting the carpet. She was having trouble concentrating due to the noise from the crowd outside. She walked to her kit and took out her ipod and started the walk through again. At the opening of what looked like a children's room, there was a blood stain. She took a swab and kept track of every detail, making sure she didn't miss anything. Sara realized that she didn't even know what had happened here. She decided to finish processing and then she'd go talk to Grissom. The door to the room was closed so she opened it and proceeded in. Looking around she found a small blood handprint on the white door. Sara photographed the hand print and documented everything. She noticed drops of blood that led to the bed. She turned down the sheets, but there wasn't anything.

Greg reached out to touch Sara but then realized she didn't know that he was there. "Sara, are you okay?" Greg asked concerned.

Barely hearing what Greg said, she still responded, "Yeah, but I'm onto something so can you leave me to think for a minute?" Sara said without moving her gaze from beneath the bed.

Greg stayed in the room but let her follow through, since he had no idea what she was on to.

Sara walked closer to the bed, and lowered herself to sit on the floor. She pulled the skirt of the bed up and was completely shocked to see a 5 year old girl sleeping under the bed. Sara told Greg to go get Grissom and Ecklie. He obeyed. By the time that they came up the girl was awake and crying in Sara's arms.

"Sara, is she physically hurt?" Ecklie questioned before even entering the room.

"Not that I can tell. She has blood on her left hand, and there is a print on the door." Sara said in a saddened tone. "I swabbed both and put them in my kit." She paused, thinking. "And now I definitely need to know what is going on!" she said, her voice rising.

"I'll fill you in when we are in the car heading back to the lab. But we'll need to wait until we get a car seat for her." Grissom said with a concerned stare at Sara. Turning to Greg, "Can you finish processing this floor?"

"Sure, why not."Greg paused. "Sara, what else did you do on this floor?"

"Well, there is what looks to be a guest room towards the front that didn't have anything in it except paintings, a few blankets and coats in the closet. I swabbed the bloodstain on the floor in front of her door, and the handprint on the door." She paused, looked at the girl and then looked at Grissom.

He caught her stare and it seared into him like a fire starting around him, consuming him.

"Let's go, they have a car seat for her." Grissom left immediately not wanting to see the sorrow in Sara's eyes, knowing there is nothing he can do to help her, at the moment.

On the way down to the car, Sara learned that the girl's name is Maria, but she wouldn't say her last name. _Well at least that's progress_. Sara thought to herself.

"The media is going to be all over this, you okay with that?" Grissom questioned.

Sara noticed the concern in his tone. And smiled in reply. At that moment they stepped out of the house, and were escorted by two officers to the car. Maria snuggled her head against Sara neck. At that moment Sara felt like her life was missing more than she thought it was. The newscasters were filming every moment until the car pulled away.

Sara was staring out the window the whole car ride. She didn't grill him about the case, she just sat there, glimpsing back at Maria in the back seat of the Tahoe. He realized why she wasn't talking when the pulled into the lab. She had been crying. He saw the tear stains on her cheeks. She fumbled to get her buckle off, and got so frustrated that she broke down more. Sobbing uncontrollably, Grissom got out of the car, went over to her side. He reached over her to unbuckle her from the car and guided her out of the car and into his arms.

He was so warm, that she didn't want to pull away. But they were at the lab and if anyone saw then that would be bad, even though there was nothing going on between them. _We're friends, just friends_. Sara repeated to herself. Sara started to pull away, but Grissom wouldn't let go. _Did this mean something?_ Sara thought to herself. _He's comforting me_. _Why? _Sara put her hand on his chest, and slowly pushed away, he let her this time.

Sara went to the car to get Maria out of it, and Grissom waited for her. He opened the door to the lab for them. Grissom had never seen Sara care this much about a kid. He remembered a case where Sara was stuck with a little girl similar to this one, and at the beginning Sara had no idea what to do, but by the end she wouldn't leave the girl's side. _Why is this time different?_ Grissom wondered.

"Here," Catherine was holding out a set of old clothes for Maria. "Ecklie called and said that you needed some clothes for a 5 year old?"

"Yeah, Sara found her in the house, under what we assume is her bed." Grissom filled her in about the case. "There is something about that girl that hit Sara. I don't know what, but something is there, a connection."

Catherine noted the concern in Grissom's voice. "Do we know how she is connected to the case emotionally?" Catherine asked but by power of emotion in Grissom's eyes, Catherine changed the subject. "We know that the Belmont's didn't have children, or grandchildren."

"Yet she had her own room at that house," Grissom stated, confused. "If they didn't have any kids, then whose is­–" but before Grissom could finish the question Catherine was gone.

When the coffee was done brewing, Grissom poured two cups and brought a few creams and sugars with him. Entering his office, where Maria was sleeping on Sara's lap, he placed the cups on his desk and sat down.

"How many creams to sugar?" Grissom whispered to Sara.

Sara held out 2 fingers on one hand and 4 on the other.

After putting in the number of cream and sugars Sara wanted, he handed her the cup of coffee. She mouthed the words: _Thank you. _

As Grissom completed most of his paperwork, glancing up every now and then observing that Sara was braiding Maria's long brunette hair. After watching for a long moment, he returned to work on his paperwork.

"Grissom, can I talk to you?" Catherine said sharply.

"Yes, let's go outside my office." Pointing to Sara and Maria who were both sleeping now, Grissom questioned, "What's going on?"

"We ran a comparison from Maria to the Belmont's. She's not related to them at all. No alleles in common."

But Grissom knew there was something more. She was folding a piece of paper several times in a nervous way. "Cath, what's with the nervousness?" Grissom's voice quivering as he asked.

"Maria has alleles in common with–"

"Grissom! Take Sara off this case immediately!" Ecklie interrupted.

"Why? Give me a good reason to take her off!" Grissom's temper rising. "She has a connection to the girl; she has gotten the girl to talk to her. Why should I take her off?"

"Ecklie, he doesn't know, I was just about to when you interrupted me!" Catherine voiced.

"What don't I know?" Grissom questioned.

Catherine handed him the paper that she was nervously folding. He read it and glanced back at Catherine, but she was gone. He looked into his office, watching Catherine take Maria out of Sara's arms. Sara didn't wake up but Maria did.

"Do we know how they are related?" Grissom questioned unable to take his eyes off of Sara's still form.

"Gil, I expect you to take her off this case, immediately." Ecklie responded.

Grissom just walked away back to his office, completely ignoring Ecklie. Grissom grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around Sara. Then he walked out of his office to go find Catherine. He found her in the waiting area. Maria was clinging to a woman who was about five foot five and had brown hair and bright green eyes, with several tattoos and piercings.

"Is that Maria's mother?" Sara asked, turning to look at Grissom. Seeing the startled look on his face. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, Gris."

"They're doing a DNA test to see if she is the mother." Grissom whispered.

Maria waved to Sara, and then turned to whisper in the lady's ear. The lady put Maria on the ground. She came running over to Sara.

Sara knelt down getting ready to wrap Maria in a bear hug. Rising back up, Sara noticed the lady when she turned around.

"Whoa, wait a minute…" Sara hesitated and walked to join them in the waiting area.

"Mel?" Sara questioned.

"SARA!!!!!!" Mel shrieked, running over and engrossing Sara into a huge hug. "Oh my god, how long has it been?"

"Too long."

"Mel, when is daddy coming to get me?" Maria asked excitedly.

"I called him when I got here, he should be here any minute." Mel caressed Maria's cheek.

"Maria, I'm right here." Walking into the waiting area with Brass, Sara just flat out stared at him without any emotion.

"Daddy!" Maria shrieked, wiggling her way out of Sara's arms, and ran over to give her daddy a hug.

"His name is Eric. He's in town for a business trip, and personal reasons." Brass filled Grissom in with the rest of the details. But Grissom was preoccupied watching Sara.

Sara fled the room as fast as she possibly could. Grissom noticed that she was crying when she left, and followed. She was resting again the wall of his office when he found her. He walked over to her, and offered her a hug. She accepted and rested her head on his shoulder.

"So will you tell me what that was all about?" He asked a few minutes later.

She looked at him and a few tear escaped. He wiped them away with his thumb.

"Sara?"

"Give me a few more minutes." Sara commented as she rested her head again his shoulder again.

_He's comforting me! _

_He wants to know about my personal life…nah that's not it; he's worried about my emotion to the case._ Sara thought to herself when resting against Grissom.

Back out in the waiting area. Mel was playing with Maria on the floor. Greg was talking to Ecklie that the DNA profile confirmed that he was the father of both Mel and Maria.

"So what brings you to Las Vegas?" Brass questioned the father.

"My sister lives in town and I came here to surprise her with a visit. We arrived two days ago, and we were visiting their grandparents from their mother's side."

"Well there is still an on-going investigation, so you'll have to stay in town longer since Maria was in that house with blood on her hands and there isn't a body, yet." Brass explained.

He nodded in understanding at Brass.

"We're going to need your contact information, please." Brass handed him a piece of paper and a pen.

Sara pushed from Grissom's embrace, trying to regain control of her emotions. She turned so that he couldn't see her face. "Do you seriously want to know what happened to me out there?"

"Yes."

"Okay, here it goes. Listen carefully because I am not repeating myself. That guy, Maria's father, is… my brother. I have never met Maria before but I have met Mel." Sara turned around to look at his face.

"I'm guessing that is all you want to tell me."

"Why, you want to hear all of it!?" Sara yelled at him.

Grissom's expression didn't surprise her. She just yelled at him and his face went from concern to saddening. He knew what she experienced as a child. He doesn't know from experience but he does know what she told him. Did he really want to hear more, knowing that he wanted to make it so she didn't remember those experiences? "Not now, but I would like to know…so that I can help you."

Her reaction wasn't what he expected. She walked two steps and gave him a warm embrace.

"Hey Sara…Oh." Catherine entered Grissom's office. "He wants to speak to you."

"The only way I will speak to him is if he is shackled to a pole….dead." She responded bitterly and then left the room.

Grissom and Catherine exchanged looks and both shrugged. Grissom exited the room and tried to find out where Sara had run off to. They…He still had a case to work on. But he wanted to know that she wasn't going to have a breakdown in the time between now and he gets off shift.

Grissom did a background check on the Belmont's. He found very little information that will help him with the case except that they did have a child. They had a daughter name Angela, but she died four years ago, in a fatal car accident. Other than that the Belmont's were an ordinary rich family in Vegas. They owned two casinos and a restaurant, lived on the rich side of town. They did tremendous amount of charity work every year. And they are best friends with the sheriff. _So why them?_ Grissom thought.

"Hey, the child psychologist is at PD, you going to observe?" Catherine asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a few minutes, I need to make a phone call."

"You're going to check up on Sara, aren't you?" Catherine sounded concerned.

"She's had a bad day Cath, and it's because of me, I was the one that called her in to help with this case, and the case made her flee."

Catherine turned and headed to the parking lot.

Grissom dialed Sara's cell phone number. It rang 4 times before it clicked over to voicemail. He called again.

"Grissom, what do you want?" Sara voice sounded irritated.

"I want to know that you are okay."

"I'm perfectly fine." Sara mumbled into the phone.

"Seriously?" Grissom's voice quivering.

"Grissom, why bother checking up on me? I know that you're just going to come over and make sure that I am physically okay when you get off of shift." Sara said in her regular tone of voice.

"Are you implying that you are not physically okay?" now sounding concerned.

"You have a case to work on, go and work on it. After all it is a high profile case, especially since there isn't a body…yet." Sara said and then started bursting out laughing.

"Sara, how much have you had to drink?"

At that moment she hung up the phone.

Trying not to think about it, he headed for the parking lot.

"Hey how it is going?" he asked Catherine as he enters the room.

Catherine dismisses his question by mouthing the word _later._

He leaves the observation room. There isn't anything that he can do at the moment. He thought of something he could go and do, but does he really want to. He ponders the idea for several minutes and then dismisses it.

"Grissom"

"Hey, it's Brass."

"What's up?" Grissom asked curiously, since Brass normally comes right out with what he has to share.

"I just thought I should give you a heads up. There was an ambulance called to Sara's apartment tonight about… uh… like 10 minutes ago."

"Thanks Brass." Grissom quickly hangs up, grabs a folder from a draw in his desk and practically runs out of the lab.

Driving to her apartment seemed like it was taking him forever but the truth was that he had time to think on the drive over which made it seem like it was taking forever. He finally arrived at her place, go out of the car. The ambulance was still there, but the EMT's were carrying her out on a stretcher. Grissom went over to her side and took her hand.

"Are you going to go with her to the hospital, Sir?"

Thinking about it for a moment, he felt her hand put pressure on his. That did it. "Yes," And he jumped into the ambulance. The whole way to the hospital, she had the same even pressure on his hand.

"Do you know what happened?" Grissom questioned the EMT without letting go of Sara's gaze.

"We don't know what happened, but we know what is happening. She has alcohol poisoning. She has the symptoms, slow breathing, paleness almost bluish skin, low body temperature, and she–"

Grissom had kept his gaze with Sara the whole time the EMT was talking. It took him a second to realize that he had stopped talking, and then he felt the pressure diminish. He looked at the monitors behind him, her pulse was going down.

"We're arriving at the hospital, we're taking her out first, and you can follow, sir."

"Okay"

Catherine is roaming around the halls of the lab trying to find Grissom. His computer is still at his desk, so he didn't leave for the night.

"Hey Nick, have you seen Grissom?"

"No, not since he left the Belmont's with Sara and Maria." Nick stated without looking up from the microscope.

Catherine walked over to Judy the receptionist, "Judy, did Grissom leave?"

"Yes, about an hour ago."

"Do you know where he went?" Catherine asked anxiously.

"No he didn't say, he ran out of here."

"Thanks, Judy."

_Grissom, where the hell did you go? _Catherine thought, wanting to tell him about what Maria had said.

Left filling out medical forms in the waiting area, Grissom took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He filled in everything that he could without having to look at her file. He's really glad that he brought her file so that he wouldn't have had to make a trip back to the lab. He looked in her file for her emergency contact information, surprised to see that she listed him. After returning all the paperwork to one of the receptionists, he sat down and started thinking. He couldn't just sit there and do nothing. He stood up and started walking around.

He turned his cell on when he walked outside. _New voicemail, probably Catherine. _

"Willows"

"Hey Cath" Grissom mumbled into the phone.

"Where have you been?"

"Long story, I really don't want to elaborate now. Can you supervise on this case with Ecklie, please?"

"Sure, but when you come back to the lab, you're telling me what's going on." Catherine demanded.

"It's not for me to tell." Grissom said and then hung up, Leaving Catherine staring at her phone quizzically.

Grissom wanders back into the waiting area, the doctor leaning against the desk, writing something in a file. _Sara's file?_ Grissom scared of the thought. He never was able to tell her how much he cares about her.

"Mr. Grissom?" the doctor asked as shut the file.

"Yes"

"Come with me please, Sara wants to see you."

"She does?" Sounding surprised.

Following the doctor down the hallway, turning into a room, still unsure of what he should say to Sara.

"Catherine, where is Sara?" Brass paused. "Eric is demanding to talk to her, no idea why, he doesn't seem her type." Brass rambled on.

"She has been removed from the case, and since it's her day off, I'm guessing she went home." Catherine said raising her voice as walking further down the hallway.

Turning around to head back to the waiting area.

"It seems like she has left." facing Eric, "Why are you so interested in seeing CSI Sidle?"

"You don't notice much, Captain." Eric said in a serious tone.

"What do you mean by that?" Brass said angrily.

"Did you look at my driver's license when I gave it to you?" Eric paused to see if the captain would answer his question. "Sara is my sister…like I said before I am in town to surprise her. I haven't seen her since she was 14." Eric said in a saddened tone.

Grissom sat on the chair next to Sara's hospital bed. Resting his elbows on his knees, trying to think about what he should say to her.

_Should I tell her that I love her so much and I hate to see her do this to herself? No, no, no. I can't do that, I can't admit that to her, not yet. _

"Grissom?" Sara said weakly, her eyes barely open.

"How are you feeling?"

Sara saw the concern in his eyes, and held the stare that he was giving her, admitting so much in no words at all.

Without even thinking Grissom got up and slowly sat down on her bed, and started stroking her hair. Tears released from her eyes, she leaned into his body. Hearing the steadiness of his heartbeat calming her down.

"I haven't seen him since I was 14 years old." Sara paused, looking out the window. "I know that drinking isn't the solution to any problem, but I thought that it would help to make the memories and feelings fade away." Sara said struggling to hide the tears. "After a few months of foster care together, he started to get into trouble and skipped school, and started dragging me down with him. When he got busted his first time with possession of a Class A substance with intent to distribute, I decided I didn't want to live that way. I asked to be moved to a different foster family, and I focused on school." She paused to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "I didn't have any friends at all, so all I had was myself and school work. I spent weekends and vacations doing extra work that I requested from my teachers." She paused, not making eye contact with Grissom. "After Harvard and Berkley, I heard from him, he was getting married. I didn't think it was appropriate for me to attend the wedding, thinking that he hadn't changed since I last saw him. About 4 years after they were married, I was here, in Vegas, and this woman and little kid showed up at my door. I had no idea who she was. When she introduced herself, I realized that she was nothing of what I expected his type to be, she was intelligent, beautiful, I could go on and on. I let her stay with me, she explained that he was an alcoholic and stated to abuse her and their daughter Melanie, who was 7 at the time. My whole childhood presented itself back in my mind, vividly. This is around when you were called about my DUI."

Grissom wrapped his arms around her shaking body. She welcomed his embrace.

"Hey, where's Grissom?" Greg asked when they were waiting to go over the Belmont case.

"And Sara?" Nick questioned with a suspicious look on his face.

"Sara has been told to take a couple of days of personal leave, until this case is solved." Catherine answered the best to her ability, even though she has no idea where or what Sara is doing.

"Ok, so what do we have?" Ecklie asked walking into the conference room.

"Well the neighbor who called it into the police stated that they heard people arguing at the Belmont's, and that there were loud shrieks." Warrick said.

"The DNA from the blood-handprint that was on the door of the second floor bedroom, is unknown, we don't have any DNA to compare it to and no hits in CODIS. There were two blood drops outside the door that Sara had swabbed, and it matches Maria, the little girl." Greg confirmed, showing everyone the sheet of paper from DNA.

"So the doctors missed something in the examination on the little girl Maria?" Ecklie questioned.

"We don't know that for sure," Catherine stared at Ecklie, "there are several things that could have happened to her to cause her to bleed, that wouldn't show on her physical form."

"Like?" Nick hesitated to ask.

"A simple nose bleeds." Nick was suddenly regretting asking.

"Was there a SAE kit done on the little girl, any semen found at the scene, anywhere?" Grissom asked from the doorframe.

"What are you getting at Gil?" Ecklie pressured.

"Conrad, can I talk to you in private?"

"Sure, I'll meet you in your office in a few minutes."

"Ok." Grissom retreating to his office immediately.

"Finish discussing what you have all found out, and then see if there is any way we can figure out who's blood it is, or any leads for that matter." Ecklie ordered.

Ecklie walked into Grissom's office and sat down in one of the chairs. Grissom was talking on the phone, and held up his index finger telling Ecklie to hold on a minute. When he was finished, he didn't hang up but turned the phone on speaker, and got up to shut the door.

"What the hell is going on Grissom?" Ecklie demanded.

"Sara told me something that I think you should know, but I didn't think that you would listen if it came from me so I arranged it so that she could tell you personally." He paused. "Sara, you there?"

"Yes, Grissom, I am." Her voice sounded a little bit higher than a whisper.

"Sara, may I know what the hell is going on?" Ecklie demanded sounding more agitated.

"Well, I thought that you would like to know how I am related to Maria."

"Yes, I would."

"Well here it is. Eric, her father is my brother. You guys are supposed to be investigators; Brass didn't even realize it when Eric gave him his driver's license. That makes Mel and Maria my nieces." Sara paused, "Uh, can you guys hold on a minute, my nurse just came in." She put them on hold not waiting for their answer.

"What the hell is going on?" Ecklie asked looking at Grissom quizzically.

"Sara was admitted into the hospital…uh…yester–no, two days ago." Grissom said jogging his memory, not even sure what day it was today.

"For what?"

"I don't know." Grissom lied. _Should_ _I tell him that I stayed with her at the hospital? _"Does it really matter, it's a personal issue, she is off the case since she is personally connected to the suspect and the little girl Maria, and so there is no point to intrude in her personal life Conrad." Grissom was convincing himself that he should obey by what he was saying to Ecklie.

There was an awkward silence between the two.

_For once he isn't patronizing me about my mentoring and protecting of Sara._

There was a beep coming from Grissom's phone.

After pressing the speak button, Sara voice came through.

"Hey guys, sorry about that."

"Is everything okay, Sara?" Grissom asked genuinely concerned.

"Yeah."

"Ok, so can we get back to what we were discussing?" Ecklie asked.

"Oh yes, sorry."

"One thing that I want to know is why Grissom asked if there was an SAE kit done on Maria." Ecklie asked going into interrogation mode.

"Well my brother has had issues with alcohol and drugs from when we were in foster care until now I assume. This is the first time that I have actually seen him since I was fourteen. But his wife Angela, his deceased wife, came to me, here in Vegas when Mel was 10 years old, saying that he had been drinking more and more. She came home one day to find several bruises on Mel's legs and back, and she had a black eye. If he is anything like our father then I wouldn't be surprised if he sexually abused both Mel and Maria." Sara said without her voice quivering.

"Sara," Ecklie paused, not sure how to ask this. "If this is too personal, then you don't have to answer it."

"Go on."

"Were you sexually abused?" Ecklie asked, observing that Grissom's eyes looked away when he asked.

"As long as you don't tell anybody then I will answer. Promise me?"

"Yes." Ecklie answered immediately.

"Yes I was. My father was a drunk, and he would beat my mother, my brother and me occasionally, one day, when I came home from school, he was home. He was never home when I came home from school, but by the time I realized it, I was already off the bus. My brother hadn't come home right away. So I went straight to my room to start my homework, and he came up. My mom caught him in the middle of it. She hit him over the head several times with a lamp that was on my nightstand. That night, after dinner he had gone to the bar for 3 hours. When he came home, I heard him arguing with my mother. I went down stairs to see if I could stop them. But she snapped. She ended up killing him with a knife that is on the counter."Sara was surprising calm.

Grissom looked up at Ecklie's face wishing that he had had a camera at that moment to get that shocked and sympathetic look on Ecklie's face.

Ecklie got up and left Grissom's office.

"Sara, he just left. Are you okay?"

Sara was unresponsive for a few seconds.

"Sara, I'm coming to the hospital. I'll be there in a few minutes. OK?" Grissom said sounding overly concerned.

"Thank you." She said barely audible and hung up.

Grissom practically ran out of the lab, passing Ecklie on his way out. Ecklie surprisingly didn't question him.

Arriving at the hospital, Grissom checked in with Sara's doctor before going to her room. He told Grissom that she needed to get help. That she couldn't keep going at this rate, drinking wise.

Entering into Sara's room quietly, he slid into the chair next to her bed and rested his hand against hers. She opened her eyes, wide and glassy. He moved over to her bed, and let her rest her head against his chest.

Sara started to cry. Grissom tightened his grip around her.

One of Sara's Nurses had walked in, and told Grissom that she could go home, but she has to take it easy for the next few days and that someone had to keep an eye on her in those few days.

The nurse took the IV out of Sara's arm, and disconnected all the monitors. Silence swept over the room, and caused Sara to stir.

Slowly pushing herself up, looking at Grissom, then to her arm, the monitors and them back to Grissom. Grissom smiled at her and she understood.

"I get to go home!" She said rushing to get out of the hospital bed.

Grissom walked two steps and put his hand on her arm, she froze at the contact. Staring at his hand on her arm, she moved closer to him, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

_Oh god, I shouldn't have started this. Shit! Not now, this is going to be embarrassing. _Grissom thought, but his body didn't agree. He wrapped his arms are her waist, and looked down at her face. She had smiled the way that makes fireworks go off inside his heart. He ducked his head down, closer to hers, she pushed up on her toes a little and their lips touched, for the first time. Grissom swept her into a passionate kiss full of longing. She didn't want this moment to end, ever.

"The SAE kit's are back, Mel had chronic sexual abuse and Maria only a few times, they don't think more than twice." Catherine stated from behind the chair in Ecklie's office.

"Was there any semen present?"

"Yes," Catherine paused, thinking.

"Well, which child?" Ecklie pressured her to answer.

"Maria." Catherine said as a tear flowed down her cheek.

Ecklie's head fell down slightly, showing emotion. "Let me call Brass and Grissom."

"Why Grissom?" Catherine questioned.

"So he can fill Sara in with what is going on."

"Why would Sara need to know besides the fact that Maria is somehow related– oh." Catherine turned around to leave Ecklie alone to make the calls.

Fumbling trying to get to open his door, Grissom couldn't keep from smiling. Once he got the door open, he grabbed Sara's waist and pulled her close to him into his living room of his townhouse. The kisses were full of passion and love. Slowly the kisses got longer until they became rapid. They drifted to the bedroom. Sara stumbled over Grissom's foot, making her fall to the floor, breaking contact. Grissom looked down at Sara and saw that smile. They both started laughing. He helped her up and led her to the bedroom. His hand found the small of her back, beneath her tee shirt.

_This can't be happening, this has to be just a really, really, really good dream!_ Sara thought as his hand found its way up her back, stopping at her bra strap. Unclasping the strap, Grissom pulled both, the bra and tee shirt over her head. She started to unbutton his shirt, when his home phone started to ring. He ignored it and kept kissing her.

"You should get that, it could be important." She breathed.

"Don't you want this?" He looked at her questionably.

"Of course I want this, I've wanted this since the first day at the seminar at Berkley, but you're supposed to be at work right now anyways, that could be them." Sara knew she had a point, but to her surprise, he didn't seem to care.

"I'm where I'm supposed to be. I never realized it before, but I do now." Grissom responded, and before she could object he captured her lips with his own. He knew she couldn't resist it.

She started at the buttons again, until he just pulled the shirt over his head without undoing the rest of the buttons. She leaned into him for another deep passionate kiss. When finally on his bed, he kissed her earlobe, moved down to kiss her neck, she let out a soft moan, which made Grissom want to plunge into her right at that moment. He would rather make the bliss last longer. He started to kiss more on her neck, when she started to moan more. He moved his thumbs across the nipple of her right breast, and gently nipped the left one.

"Gil!" Sara could barely speak anything. He kissed down her torso, ending at the top of her jeans. After he unbuttoned them, he slid them down her legs along with her panties. He kissed the inside of her left thigh. She squirmed to get his attention. He captured her mouth again, and she started to unbutton his pants, the pants fell around his knees, and he twisted to kick them off.

She broke the kiss, and nibbled at his earlobe, he let out a moan that made Sara want more. He moved his hand down to her hip, and then to her sensitive area, when he heard her intake of air. After stroking a few times he plunged into her. A surge of electricity went through both their bodies. Their lips met each other once again, and everything was fast and furious. They finally followed the same pace.

When they finished, Sara and Grissom were both panting trying to catch their breath. She leaned into him, and let out a yawn.

"That was–" Sara started to say

"Perfect." Grissom interrupted her. Looking down at her face, they were both smiling. He kissed her on her forehead, and they both drifted off to sleep.

"Eric Sidle, you are under arrest for the rape of a five year old girl, you have the right to remain silent, and anything you say or do can be used against you in a court of law." Brass said as he put handcuffs around Eric's wrists.

Brass leads him out of the hotel room, and into the elevator and into the police cruiser.

Catherine and Nick were at the hotel room, scanning the sheets under ultraviolet light and same thing in the bathroom.

"There is nothing." Nick stated in fury.

"Nick, we got him for rape of a 5 year old girl, his own daughter. He's not going to be out for a while." Catherine said reassuring not just Nick but herself too.

"Are the kids going to be put into foster care?" Nick said, trying so hard not to show emotion.

"I have no idea Nicky, we have to wait and see." Catherine said, patting him on the shoulder.

They walked down to the Tahoe, and drove back to the lab.

Sara woke up to her cell phone ringing. She reaches over to grab her jeans from the floor, pulling her phone of the front pocket.

"Sidle"

"Hi Sara, It's Conrad Ecklie, I was wondering if we could talk, today?"

"Sure, what time?"

"Is an hour okay for you?"

"Sure, I'll meet you in your office?"

"Ok, see you then."

They both hung up, and when she turned back to Grissom, his eyes were open and he had a smile on his face.

"Got a hot date?" Grissom questioned.

"You're jealous?" Sara laughed.

"You do, don't you?"

"Unless you call a meeting with your boss a date." Sara jokingly.

"What, did I hear you right? You have a meeting with Ecklie?"

"Yes, you did hear me right, I do have a meeting with Ecklie" Sara paused to look at the clock. "In fifty-five minutes. I need to go shower." She hurried out of his bed and walked into the bathroom.

When she got out of the shower donned one of Grissom's shirt and walked out of the bedroom.

Grissom was at the kitchen making what smelled like veggie omelets. Sara walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Smells good."

"It's almost done." Grissom said as he turned his head to look at her. She smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Do you regret this?" Sara asked curiously.

"No I don't, do you?"

"Of course not."

"Then why did you ask?" Grissom asked.

"You said that this would never work between us because of work, that it wasn't a good idea to get involved." Sara explained remembering the past few years and how mean he had been to her.

They sat down at the table and ate breakfast, talking about books they've read, and movies that they've seen. After breakfast Sara went into the bedroom to get dressed in her clothes.

"Shit!" Sara said walking out of the bedroom.

"What's wrong?" Grissom asked concerned.

"I don't have my car here."

"Take mine." Grissom said pushing the keys to her from one side of the table.

"Wouldn't that be a little suspicious if I arrive at work with your car, and you're not there?"

"Good point that would be a little suspicious."

"I don't have time to go get my car." Sara said, thinking of a way out of this dilemma.

"Calm down Sara," Grissom said coming from behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders and giving her a massage.

"That feels good." Sara exhaled.

"You're so tense." Grissom kept working out the tension in Sara neck and back. "Let me give you a ride to the lab, I have to go there anyways and check up on the case. We can just say that you needed a ride because your car wouldn't start." Grissom suggested.

Sara hesitated before answering. "Sure, that'll work." Turning around to pick up her cell phone and clip it to her belt.

Grissom lead her out of his house, and locked the door.

When in the car, Grissom said with a smirk on his face, "I liked it better when you were in my shirt."

"Yes, but that's not appropriate attire when I have a meeting of importance, well I think of importance." Sara wondered what this meeting _was_ about.

Walking into the lab, Sara walked to Ecklie's office, Grissom walked towards his.

Sara knocked on the doorframe and Ecklie motioned for her to come in.

"Hello, Sara." Ecklie said with a concerning look on his face. "This is Sandra Malten; she is from the Department of Social Services."

"Hello." Sara shook Mrs. Malten's hand.

"Sara, I called this meeting for a few reasons. You know that your brother Eric Sidle was arrested today for the rape of his five year old daughter Maria. There was an SAE kit done on both girls, Maria's is the only one that had semen present, Mel's just showed years of chronic sexual abuse."

"I'm not surprised." Sara said calmly, but her white knuckles begged to differ. "Where is this going?"

"Well the thing is Ms. Sidle; you are the only relative that the girls have who's alive, well that we know of. So instead of putting them in foster care, would you care to gain custody of them?" Mrs. Malten jumped in.

"Didn't Eric leave a will?" Sara questioned.

"No he didn't."

"Well, there is one problem." Sara said, staring at Ecklie.

"Yes, we are aware of this problem. You work nights, which isn't suitable for custody." Mrs. Malten stated.

"That brings me to my other reason for this meeting." Ecklie paused. "There is the Day Shift Supervisor Position, and Grissom has recommended you for the position."

"Are you serious?" Sara asked with a spark in her eye.

"Yes," Ecklie and Sandra said in unison.

After thinking for several moments with both Ecklie and Mrs. Malten staring at her, she responded "I'll accept the promotion and I'll be the guardian of Mel and Maria."

"You'll need to fill out this paperwork, for legal guardianship of the girls." Mrs. Malten handed her a thick packet of papers.

After filling out the paperwork, she signed it and handed it back to Mrs. Malten.

"The girls are in the break room." Ecklie said, giving her a smile.

Sara shook hands with both Ecklie and Mrs. Sandra Malten, then turned away and walked out. She stopped briefly and asked Ecklie, "Can I be the one to tell Grissom that I'm not going to be on his shift anymore?"

"Yes, you can, please just do it tonight, and you can take 3 days before starting your new shift." Ecklie smiled.

"Thank you Conrad."

"Warrick, you have been reassigned to a DB." Catherine said handing him the slip.

"Cath, why the hell am I being taken off the high profile?"

"Because we are short handed, especially with Sara not being able to work this case."

"Then why doesn't she take the DB?" Warrick argued.

"Warrick, don't complain, just do and do. It shouldn't take that long, and this high profile, isn't really going anywhere, especially since we kind of don't have a body, only blood." Catherine explained.

"Ok, I'll go, but you owe me!" walking out to the parking lot.

Walking into the break room, Sara looked at the girls, observing that Mel is 15 years old and already has several tattoos and piercings but she is extremely responsible. Maria spotted Sara and ran over to give her a giant hug.

"Are you going to be taking care of us? Daddy didn't do a great job." Maria said.

"Yes, I will be," Sara said picking Maria in a hug and spinning her around.

Grissom watched this from the door, he didn't want to interrupt.

"Maria, how about you go play with your toys while I talk to Mel."

"Ok." Maria agreed and plopped herself on the floor.

"Mel, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am okay; I'm just trying to forget what happened."

"Ok, I'll give you time," Sara paused "you know that I am here for you when you need me."

Grissom smiled when he heard what Sara had said.

When Sara stood up, she saw Grissom standing by the door. He came in and smiled at her. He walked over to the coffee pot and filled more water into it, along with fresh grounded coffee beans. She leaned against the counter and saw the smile on his face.

"We need to talk." Sara deadpanned.

"Oh?" Grissom had this scared look on his face.

"Not about that," Sara paused "can we talk in your office?"

"Sure"

Walking out of the break room, Sara looked back to see the girls still occupied by the toys and books.

Entering into his office, she took a seat immediately without him even asking her too.

"So you know how I had that meeting with Ecklie this morning?" Sara was working her way, explaining every detail.

"Yes, how'd it go?" Grissom automatically jumped at the chance to talk to her.

"Let me explain, no questions until afterwards, is that ok?" Sara said nervously.

"Yes."

"Ok, so I am now the legal guardian of Mel and Maria since Eric was arrested this morning for raping of Maria. And since it's not possible to leave two minors home alone at night for several hours, Ecklie offered me the Day Shift Supervisor position, and I accepted." Sara paused a minute, but didn't break eye contact with Grissom. He knew she wasn't done. "I know that I've taken on a challenge, but I can't let them go through what I did when I was in foster care. I'm also aware that this means I will see less and less of you, which is making me rethink this whole thing." Sara paused, finally breaking contact.

Grissom walked over to sit on the chair next to hers, "I understand why you are doing this, Sara, I really do, and we can make this work, all of it."

Before Grissom was done talking Sara had already been standing. When he did finish, she took a step and gave him a warm embrace, and whispered "You know what? This means we don't have to hide our relationship from everyone, you're not my boss anymore." Her lips separated into that smile that set fireworks off in his heart.

"You know what, you're right." And he lowered his head, and drew her into a passionate kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own them.

Thicker than Blood: Part Two

Author: PaintedShadow

Bare with me on this one, I don't think that they ever mentioned the names of CSIs from Day Shift, so I created some.

I am sooooo sorry that this is soo late. I've been swapped with schoolwork and alpine ski racing so I haven't had time to write. I'm posting this one, I know I left it at a weird place, but I am going to write more today since I got dismissed at noon due to the storm. -LL

"Mel you are going to be late for school!" Sara yelled walking down the hall to go to the kitchen.

"Sara give her a break, she has switched schools and doesn't know anyone here. She's been uprooted from her life, let her adjust." Grissom reasoned while massaging Sara's shoulders trying to get her to calm down.

"Sit down and eat breakfast with me!" Maria exclaimed from the dining room table.

"Ok, I'm going to get some sleep, I'll pick up Maria when school is done, Mel told me she is going to take the bus home." Grissom reviewed to Sara.

"Great, that helps me a lot, now I can work through my lunch break. I have to get use to not working with our team anymore." Sara said walking back towards the bathroom. "Mel, seriously, you need to finish in there." Sara paused, "Other people need to get in th–" before she could finish the sentence, Mel opened the door and wrapped her arms around Sara.

"Hey, what's wrong, you've been crying." Sara questioned looking down at Mel's pale face genuinely concerned.

"I'm just not use to–" Mel tried to explain,

"Take your time Mel, but for now, can you grab a bagel from the counter and eat it in the car so that you and Maria aren't late for your first day of school here?"

"Ok."

Sara walked into the bedroom, to see Grissom reading a book in bed.

"Ok, we are off." Sara said sitting next to him.

"Have a great first day as Day Shift Supervisor." Grissom said with a smirk.

"Thanks." She said, then kissed him goodbye.

After getting Mel and Maria to their schools and getting everything settled with the paperwork, Sara made it to her new office. Three days prior to this day she had rearranged the office to her liking and organized everything so she wouldn't be overwhelmed her first day.

She grabbed the assignment slips and walked into the break room where her new team was. She handed out the 3 slips that were in her hand, a 419 in Henderson to Kevin and Jason, another 419 on the strip to Cory, and a B&E to Parker. After they got their assignments, they all left the break room. She went back to her office to work on some paperwork that she had to have in to Ecklie before the end of shift.

Grissom woke up to find the other side of the bed cold.

_Where is Sara?_ Grissom thought. _Oh… yeah. Damn, this is going to be hard to get use to._

Grissom got ready and got in the car to pick up Maria from kindergarten.

"How was school?" Grissom asked her when walking back towards the car.

"It was awesome!" Maria exclaimed jumping up and down.

"Did you make any new friends?"

"Yup," Maria answered as Grissom picked her up to put in the booster seat.

"How many?"

"Two. Jackie and Heather."

"How would you like to go get some lunch?" Grissom asked looking back in his rear-view mirror.

"Can we go eat with Sara?" Maria asked gazing out the side window.

"Sure."

"Sidle." Sara answered her phone after two rings.

"Hey honey, there is someone here eager to have lunch with you."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes it is." Grissom answered knowing that this would make her day.

"Met me at the diner in 15 minutes?" Sara questioned, smiling.

"I think that would be great!"

Sara finished up the paperwork that was in front of her and then went to the diner.

"Sara!" Maria screamed from halfway across the diner, waving frantically at her.

"Hi," picking Maria off of the seat to wrap her in a hug, "how was your first day of school?"

"Great!"

Glancing over at Grissom who was studying the menu, "And how was your morning? Did you sleep well?" Sara moved her face closer to his, and gave him a sweet welcoming kiss.

"Yes, I did, but I woke up and you weren't there." He frowned.

"Yeah, it's going to take some getting used to, isn't it?" Sara said, amused by the situation.

"Yeah, it is." Grissom turned to look at Maria, who is sitting across the table from him and Sara. "What you would like to eat?"

"Hmmmmm, chicken tenders, with fries and ketchup."

"And what about a drink?" Sara asked not even glancing up from her menu.

"Water."

The waiter came and they placed their orders, and then left.

"So how was your first day as a Supervisor?" Grissom asked curiously.

"One word…Paperwork!" Sara breathed out.

"Yes, well there are days like that, there isn't anything you can do about it."

"I could be like you and procrastinate doing it and just leave it on my desk to pile up, Ecklie would love that!" Sara said with joy in her eyes.

Grissom looked over at Maria, avoiding looking back at Sara's eyes, so she could see the hurt, from what she just said.

"Sara, look what I made you." Maria said holding up the paper placemat.

"Thanks, Maria, I love it." Sara said with a tear gathering around her eye waiting to unleash.

Sara was still gazing at the picture when the waiter arrived with their food. They ate in silence for the whole time. Maria finished first, and fell asleep on the seat. When Sara finished she took Maria's plate and put it on top of hers and pushed them aside.

Turning to look at Grissom, "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have said that, even if I meant it jokingly." Sara cast her eyes down to her lap.

Grissom lifted her chin in his hand and moved his head closer to give her a kiss. Once their lips touch, she wrapped her arm around him and deepened the kiss.

"Ewwwww, Gross!" Maria said.

Sara and Grissom broke away from each other. Sara started laughing as Grissom's face got a faint shade of red.

"Come on, let's go. I need to get back to work; Ecklie wants that paperwork finished before the end of shift."

Grissom paid the bill, and picked Maria up from the seat. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder.

"Sara, looks like someone is exhausted." Grissom said looking down at Maria. "I'm going to take her home and let her sleep."

"Ok, Mel should be home around 2:30, and I'll be home around 4:15." Sara responded kissing him on the cheek.

"I'm back!" Mel shouted into what seemed like an empty house.

"Hello Mel, how was school?" Grissom asked appearing from his office.

"Like normal, honor classes, stuck up preps, and the dumbass jocks." Mel paused "I'm going to go work on my homework, how was Maria today?"

"She was very well behaved. She was extremely tired after we went to lunch with Sara. She slept for over an hour."

"Not really that surprised. She rarely slept at night because she was afraid of what he'd do when she was asleep. She's very advanced Grissom, but she has trouble facing reality sometimes. This is probably the best thing that has happened to her."

Mel walked to the room she shared with her sister. Dropping down her messenger bag, she flung herself onto her bed.

"Sara!" Maria ran up to Sara and gave her a giant hug.

"Hey girl, how was your day?"

"We played Candyland, and I watched cartoons." Maria stated excitedly.

Looking at Grissom, "You played CandyLand?" Sara asked trying so hard not to laugh.

"Yes, I did." Grissom paused, "What would you all like for dinner?"

"I'll go ask Mel." Sara said as she moved to walk down the hallway.

"Hey Mel," Sara said as she opened the door, "How was school today?"

"Good, just finishing homework."

"What would you like for dinner, we were thinking pizza."

"That sounds fine."Mel agreed, leaving Sara completely aware that she wasn't up for talking.

When the pizzas arrived, they all gathered at the table to eat.

"She asleep?" Grissom asked as Sara walked into the bedroom.

"They both are." Sara said sounding amazed.

"Well Mel told me something today," Grissom paused to pull Sara onto the bed, "she said that Maria barely sleeps at night because she is afraid of what might happen, or what did happen."

"Yeah, I'm actually not surprised." Sara paused and turned away from Grissom, "I had many nights were I never slept because of what happened, or thinking of what would happen the next day."

"Sara," Grissom touched her arm and she flinched.

When she turned to look at him, his face was etched with worry. "I'm sorry Gil, I didn't mean–"

"Sara, don't be sorry, I understand, but you know I would never hit you, right?"

"Yes, I was just remembering…"

They embraced each other and sat there in silence. They fell asleep like that until the ringing of Grissom's cell awoke him.

"Grissom."

"We have a body."

"Where? Who?"

"In a car on Industrial. We found his license, even though it wasn't needed to recognize him. It's Jeffrey Belmont." Brass explained further.

"Be there in a few." Grissom said looking at his watch. _Nine O'clock_. He thought.

They'd only been asleep for an hour. Getting off the bed so he wouldn't wake Sara, he heard her phone go off.

"Hey, what's going on?" Sara said drowsily.

"They found Jeffrey Belmont's body. I'm heading in early, you're phone was going off." Grissom replied walking back over to the bed.

Walking over to her purse, Sara fished out her cell phone. "Ecklie, go figure."

"Are you going to call him back?"

"What's the point?" Sara asked in an icy tone.

"It could be important, Sara." Grissom was going to try to reason with her when his phone started ringing again.

"Grissom."

"Sara there by any chance?"

"Yes, hold on." Grissom said, handing Sara the phone.

"Hello."

"Sara, it's Ecklie, why weren't you answering your phone?"

"Sorry I was sleeping, you got me now, what's up?"

"Since we have a body now, sheriff is making this the only case we work on, Day shift and Graveyard are going to be working together to process, collect evidence and so on. Swing shift is going to be taking care of the rest of the cases that come through. You okay with that?"

"I'm fine with that, but what about the fact that it's my niece involved."

"We've already worked that out, you'll be supervising, but you won't be allowed to handle evidence until it is processed. You can't do any lab work but you can oversee all the work that is being done."

"So I'm practically babysitting?"

"Sara, we are doing it this way so that the evidence doesn't get dismissed in court."

"Ok."

"Will you come in?"

"Yes."

Later at the lab, Greg, Nick, Cory and Parker were already at in the break room when Sara and Grissom walked in.

"Ok, so we are all here." Ecklie said walking through the door.

"Wait, I thought you said that we were all working on this, half of our teams are missing." Sara said looking at Cory and then at Parker, who smiled back at her.

"Yes, I know, but we didn't realize that you had your whole team out working on cases this morning." Ecklie said shooting her an evil look.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that?" Sara said with a smirk.

"Well Kevin and Jason are going to be finishing the work on the cases that came in this morning, and will join in to help later. Warrick and Catherine are helping covering swing so that they have enough people for incoming cases." Ecklie reasoned. "Nick, Cory, and Parker, you all are going to go out to process the car. Grissom, go and supervise. Sara and Greg go through and find out how and why Maria was at the Belmont's. We know that Angela Belmont died in a fatal car accident, but Maria didn't have any alleles in common with the Belmont's. So we need to know who is lying, the Belmont's or your brother."

With a nod, Ecklie walked out of the room without anyone saying a word.

"So looks like you can't keep away from me!" the cheerful Greg said as he glided over to where Sara was.

"Greg, I'm not in the mood."

"Jeez, you must be late on your weekly sleep." Greg said as he walked out of the room.

Sara had found newspaper articles and images of the Belmont's, a few that Angela was in, and a few that she weren't. That didn't prove anything though and she knew it. Sara went to the break room to get some coffee, on her way back she thought of something. Searching the medical history of Angela Belmont, and what she came across was so much better than anything.

Running quickly through the halls of the lab, almost taking out Ecklie and then Grissom, Sara found Greg in the break room. Trying to catch her breath, she handed the piece of paper to Greg instead of trying to tell him. After reading the paper, Greg jumped out of his chair spilling coffee all over the table and himself, but they ran to Ecklie to show him what they got.

"Ecklie!" Sara yelled at the top of her lungs, running closer to him.

"Jeez Sidle, do you have to be so loud?" Ecklie asked turning his attention from Grissom to Sara.

"We found the connection between," Sara paused to catch her breath.

"The Belmont's and Angela." Greg finished her sentence, showing the paper to Ecklie.

Grissom looked back at Sara who was still bent over catching her breath.

"Sara, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just need to catch my breath–" When Sara completely stood up; she landed on the ground faster than a bolt of lightning.

"Sara!" Grissom and Greg said in unison, Grissom rushing to get to her side. Greg stood there in a state of shock.

"Somebody call 911." Ecklie shouted.

"Sara, come on Sara!" Grissom said, tears building up.

"Grissom! She's bleeding!" Greg practically screamed. When Grissom looked at the blood, his face went paler.

"They are on their way. They should be here in about 10 minutes or less." Judy told Ecklie.

"They are here." Judy said moving against the wall so they can get by.

"What happened?" one of the EMT's questioned.

"She ran over here, and was trying to catch her breath when she collapsed, she hasn't responded and she lost a good amount blood." Grissom said trying not to cry.

"Sir, I'm going to need to know her name, age, any allergies–" the EMT started.

"Sara Sidle, 34, not allergic to any medicines."

Grissom looked up at the semi-familiar voice but Greg reacted faster.

"_Hank_," Greg seethed.

"I'm just doing my job. I'll leave once she's at the hospital." Hank reasoned with Greg, turning to look at Grissom, noting the sadness in his eyes, "Mr. Grissom, will you be coming in the ambulance?"

Trying to figure out what the hell is going on; he looks up half dazed, "Yes."

Greg's head snapped up when he heard Grissom's answer.

Arriving at the hospital, Grissom was left to fill out paperwork while Sara was being examined by a doctor. By the time he completed all the paperwork, the doctor came out.

"Mr. Grissom, I'm Dr. Jenkins."

Shaking the hand that the doctor presented and jumping into action, "What's going on? Is she ok?"

"Are you aware that she was pregnant?"

Inhaling sharply, Grissom finally answered, "No, I didn't." Grissom said, thinking through what the doctor had just told him. When it suddenly occurred to him, "Wait, you said was, not is."

"Yes, Mr. Grissom, Ms. Sidle had a miscarriage, that's why she was bleeding. According to the hospital log, she was admitted into the hospital recently for alcohol poisoning." He paused briefly. "That was went she originally lost the fetus, but daily work and stress, along with the stress from the short sprint she did caused her to bleed out. The amount of blood she lost caused her to faint, which is why she was unresponsive. We have stabilized her but we want to keep her in here for a night for observation."

"Ok."

"Would you like you see her? She's awake."

"Yes, of course." Grissom said starting to walk to her room. Without even turning around he asked, "Does she know?"

"We told her about what happened. I don't think she even knew that she was pregnant."

Arriving at her room, unsure about what to say, walking in to see the tear stains on her cheeks.

"Sara…" getting her attention, and moving closer to her bed. "How are you holding up?"

"How do you think I am holding up Gil?" Sara snapped at him.

"I know why you are crying, but I don't understand why you are angry with me." Grissom paused, taking hold of her hand. "Sara, did you know that you were pregnant?"

She cast her eyes away from his face before responding, "No." not willing to elaborate on the subject.

Sitting on the side of her bed, Grissom reached over and took her body in his arms, embracing her.

Breaking into sobs, she leaned into his embrace, welcoming the warmth his body brought to her.

The ringing of Grissom's cell phone cut through not only the silence but also the embrace.

"Grissom."

"Hi Gil, it's Mel, Sara left a post-it note on my forehead saying that you two were called into work and that she wanted me to call."

"Oh ok, hold on, she is right here." Coving the mouth piece and glaring at Sara, "You put a post-it note on Mel's forehead?"

"Yeah, I did," smiling when she saw his curious facial expression. Taking the phone from his hands, "Hi Mel, what are you doing up in the middle of the night?"

"I went to bed around, what 8?"

"Yeah you did."

"You really thought that I was going to sleep the whole night?"

"No I didn't. Ok, here's the deal, we are stuck at work on this case, so I am putting you in charge. We have no idea when we are going to get home." Sara paused, thinking if she should say anything to Mel about being in the hospital, dismissing the thought the moment it came to her. "So I am going to need you to get up in the morning and get Maria ready for school. Is that ok, or do you want me or Gil to come home to get her ready?"

"I can handle it. It's not any different from when I did it when we lived with our father."

"Ok, can you call Gil if you have any problems; I think I left my cell phone in the car." Sara lied. She knew she left it at the lab. She just didn't want to worry Mel.

"Ok, I'm going to read, Maria is still asleep, she'll probably sleep through the whole night."

"Ok, have fun, and thank you." Sara said and then hung up the phone. Looking back at Grissom, "What?"

"You didn't tell Mel that you were in the hospital, why?" Grissom wondered.

"Griss, I don't want to worry her and Maria, they're just getting use to our routine, if I throw this in then it's going to hit hard. I don't want them to worry. If Maria is anything like Mel, then she won't go to school if she knew that I was here." Gesturing to the room she is in. "I will be out of here tomorrow, so there shouldn't be a problem. When I get back home, I will tell both of them. Ok?" Sara said, putting her hands on his face. But he was the one to lean in and capture her lips.

"Ecklie, it all makes sense now, Angela had been adopted by the Belmont's when she was six years old. That is why Maria didn't have any alleles in common with the samples that Mr. and Mrs. Belmont had provided us years ago at a case in a casino."

"Good work Greg, keep up the good work." Ecklie commented walking away.

"Sara was the one that found it, I just connected the dots. She did too."

"Greg, take a compliment." Ecklie paused turning around, "After your break can you go help the guys with the car?"

"Sure, why not?" Greg responded rolling his eyes.

"Grissom."

"It's Ecklie, is Sara okay?"

"Yeah, she going to be in the hospital overnight, but they are going to release her tomorrow."

"Ok, well can you come in a work, I need someone to help process the car. We need as many hands on deck today that we can. A fresh set of eyes might do the guys some good."

"Ecklie, we can't have everyone in there processing, there isn't enough room." Grissom explained.

"Yes, well that's why I am thinking of allowing one CSI to go home if you come back. And after 2 hours, that CSI comes back, and a different one goes home to rest. That way we have fresh set of eyes every two hours."

"Ecklie, for once, you have a good idea, and for the first time, I am agreeing with you."

"So you'll come in?"

"Yes, I'll be there within the hour." And with that Grissom hung up his phone, and walked back into Sara's room.

"Hey."

"You're awake." Grissom stated sounding surprised.

"Yeah, your cell phone woke me."

"Oh, I thought I got it in time before it woke you, I guess not."

"You have to go back to the lab don't you?" Sara asked, casting her eyes down to the bottom of her bed.

"Yeah, it's only fair to give the guys so time to rest."

"True." Sara still sounded sad, and it broke Grissom's heart to know that he was causing the sadness in her.

Moving closer to her, Grissom took her hand, "Sara look at me," Sara obeyed, "I'll be back here in the morning to pick you up, and I'll stay with you at home until I have to get back to the lab. I'm putting you on medical leave for 3 days, which means no working from home either. I want you well rested for when you come back to work."


	3. Chapter 3

Thicker than Blood Part 3

Disclaimer: Don't own them.

Here is another, I probably won't get to writing the next chapter until this coming weekend, unless the doc says I can't go to practice and racing.

Hope you like!

LL

---

Grissom hated the fact that he had to leave Sara at the hospital alone. He wished someone could be there with her so that she didn't go though it alone. Pulling into the driveway of his townhouse, Grissom got out and proceeded to the house.

"Gil!" Maria squealed when she saw him.

"What are you doing up this late?"

"I got nightmares, so I watch cartoons, which I normally fall asleep watching." She glanced around the room. "Where is Sara?"

"She is still at work. I came back to check on you guys."

"Oh, Mel is in our room, she was crying, but I think she fell back asleep." Maria stated, switching her focus back to the television.

Walking down the hall to their room, Grissom opened it a small amount, "Mel?"

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"What are you doing here, I thought you went to work."

"I did, but I forgot something in my office here." Grissom lied because he knew that Sara didn't want them to know that she was in the hospital.

"Oh."

"Once I get it, I'm heading back, are you sure that you are alright to get everything ready?"

"Yes, I'm fully capable of taking care of my little sister, I've done it since our mother died 4 years ago."

"Ok, call if you need something."

"Will do."

Fetching clean clothes for himself and some for Sara that she had in a bag she brought over from her apartment. After changing, he said goodbye to Mel and Maria and headed off to the lab.

Sara had been asleep the whole time since Grissom left. She felt a presence around her when she awoke but she didn't see anyone. The room was also dark, except for the glow from the window outside the hospital.

"Sara, you awake?"

Sara thought a minute before thinking of where she knew that voice from. "Hank, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I heard that you were admitted again, so I thought I would stop by and see how you were doing."

Sara could see that he was nervous, he was fidgeting. "You have no right to be here."

"Sara, I know that you were pregnant, and I know that you know that you were too." He paused to look around, then continued, "I saw the way you walked around the lab, I observed you several times. You never stepped foot into the bar you normally go to with the guys on Friday mornings."

Sara held up her hand, "Hank, stop, just stop! What we did was a mistake, and now it doesn't matter."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" Hank's voice was full of anger.

"I'm done with you. You never told me you had a girlfriend. And when things got rocky with her you came over and took advantage of me. It doesn't matter!" She paused for a second to gauge his reaction. "It was a mistake, on both of our parts. You need to leave."

Without saying another word, Hank walked out of her hospital room, not noticing who was waiting by her hospital door.

---

Sara was sitting there when she heard the door open slightly. "Go away, I don't want to argue with you anymore!"

"Sara, we haven't been arguing."

"Oh sorry Nick, I thought you were someone else." She turned around to face him, wiped her tear stained cheeks furiously.

"Oh hunny, what's wrong?" Nick asked in a concerned tone moving closer to her bed.

"Who told you I was here?"

"Greg told me what happened at the lab, and Grissom just came back to work, and I got sent home to rest for 2 hours."

"Nicky, you should go home and rest then. I'm fine, seriously." Trying to sound convincing, but she knew it was working.

"Sara don't start that 'I'm fine' nonsense, you obviously aren't fine, if you were you would be at home with your nieces, you wouldn't be in the hospital!" Nick reasoned sounding furious.

Sara broke down into sobs, and Nick moved to sit on her bedside.

"I'm sorry hon, it's been a long day. Can I stay and rest here with you?"

Sara looked up, her eyes filled with tears, and nodded.

It was quarter to 7 and Mel was warming pastries for breakfast while Maria was getting dressed for school.

"Come on Maria, we are going to be late."

"I'm coming. What are we having for breakfast?"

"Pastries."

"Oo, yummy!" Maria exclaimed grabbing hers from the counter.

"Come on, we'll eat them on the way to school."

---

After walking Maria to school, Mel stopped by the lab.

"Hi Mel, how can I help you?" Judy asked.

"Can I talk to Gil or Sara?"

"Yes, I'll page Gil. Sara is out right now."

"Oh ok." Mel responded confused.

"Mel, is everything okay?" Grissom asked concerned.

"Yes, I just stop by to tell you that Maria is signed up for afternoon care at the school, I had a feeling that you and Sara were going to be busy with the case. I can pick her up after school. I should be home around 3 then. Is that okay?" Mel explained.

"Yes, that would be very helpful." Grissom paused thinking about what else he should say. "Sara is going to be home sometime this afternoon. I on the other hand could be pulling a triple."

"So in other words I should order take out for dinner?" Mel looked at his confused look, "the last time I was here Sara could cook, and I doubt that she has tried to learn how, I really don't feel like eating ash for dinner. I'll order take out." Mel tried to contain her laughing.

"That's fine." Grissom smirked. "Now head to school, or you're going to be late."

Mel walked out of the lab, leaving Grissom thinking of Sara…again.

"Hey Nicky, your cell is ringing." Sara said nudging him. Hearing a string of moans, she reached for his phone that was on the table beside her bed.

"Hello"

"Sara? I didn't call you."

"Yeah I know, I answered Nick phone since he fell asleep in the chair by my bed."

"Oh, well can you wake him. We need him to get back here, Greg looks like he is getting ready to collapse."

"Ok, when do you get your next break?" Sara asked into the phone.

"Not for a while, after Greg's 2 hours, Parker is heading home, I'm after him. So it'll be another 4 hours or so."

"But we need to talk Gil, well no, I need to talk, I need you to listen."

"Sara, is everything okay?" Grissom asked concerned.

"Yeah, but I need to talk to you."

"Ok, well if I can I will get out of here earlier."

"Ok. I'll wake Nick up and send him over."

"See you later, Sara."

"Bye Gil"

Snapping the phone shut, Sara kept poking Nick in the side to awake him.

After a few minutes of poking, Nick snaps, "Jeez Sara, what are you trying to do, poke me to death?" Laughing at the humor of what he just said. He starts to move off the bed to gather his coat and leave.

"When are you getting out?"

"Sometime today."

"Well you know that if you need anything then just call."

"Yes I know Nick. Thanks." And with that he left.

"Go home Greg, we can do the rest of this." Grissom said walking back into the garage where they were finishing processing the car.

"Nick ain't here yet." Greg mumbled into his arm.

"Well I don't think that we need 3 people to do the rest of this." Grissom paused. "And when Nick decides to show up, I will put him to work on analyzing material that needs to be sent off to trace."

At that Greg stood up and slowly wandered out of the lab, not even bothering to stop to his locker.

Catherine was walking into the lab and past Greg. But she was out to find Grissom. Looking in trace and DNA and then his office, she couldn't find him. Then she thought about the case he was working on.

Walking into the garage she spots Grissom collecting all the bags of evidence. "Gil, can we talk, it's important."

"Sure Cath, in my office?"

"Sure." Walking back from where she came.

Walking into his office, she sits down on one of the chairs in front of his desk while he shuts the door.

"What's up Catherine?" Grissom asked walking around to sit at his desk.

"Well one of the cases I had today, I needed to go to the hospital to collect some evidence and the SAE kit. Greg had told me that Sara had been admitted so after I was done collecting the evidence I went to go check on her. Most of the lights in her room were off so I didn't know if I should go in but then I heard voices. A voice in particular was concerning me." Catherine paused to gauge Grissom's reaction, noting that she wasn't going to read it, she continued, "it was Hank." After speaking that name she got a reaction out of him. It looked like a thousand light bulbs were being lit at the same time.

"Now everything makes sense." Grissom mumbled to himself.

"You know?!" shock washing over Catherine's face.

Grissom responded "yes" and with that he walked out of his office and out of the lab. He needed to drive. Just drive. He didn't want to go see Sara because he knew that just wouldn't be the best idea. He wasn't hungry, or tired, so what was he going to do to clear his head?

Back at the lab, Catherine was still in Grissom's office, sitting there in silence until she heard the shrill of a cell phone. She unclipped hers from her belt but it wasn't ringing. She looked around Grissom's desk, and there it was. She didn't recognize the number so she picked it up, "Hello?"

"Oh hi Cath, I thought I called Grissom's phone."

"Oh hi Sara, you did. He just ran out somewhere and left his phone in his office. I was passing by and I heard it go off. What's up?" Catherine lied not wanting to mention her and Grissom's discussion.

"Well they say that I can be released, but someone needs to come and get me."

"I can, if you want me to." Catherine offered.

"Thanks, but I really need to talk to Grissom, so I'll just wait for him. Can you have him call me when he gets back?"

"Sure. Take care, Sara."

"Bye"

Catherine hung up the phone and put it back where she found it. Took a sticky note from his desk and wrote CALL SARA on it.

---

After waiting for Grissom to call back, Sara got fed up and dialed Nick.

"Stokes"

"Hey Nick."

"Sara, you okay?"

"Yeah, I am, can I ask you a favor though?"

"Sure, whatever you need."

"Can you come pick me up at the hospital?"

"I'll be there in 15 minutes."

"Thanks"

---

Nick drove as fast as he could to make it to the hospital. Arriving there he parked his car and ran inside to the receptionist's desk. "I'm here for Sara Sidle."

"Yes, she is over there" pointing to the corner of the waiting room where Sara had her arms protectively around her legs. Nick walked over to where she was sitting and knelt down in front of her. "Sara, let's bring you home."

"No, can we go to the school to pick up the girls?"

"Yeah, sure." Nick replied helping her out of the chair and into his warm embrace.

The entire car ride to the school was spent in silence. Nick periodically looked over to Sara who was sitting in the passenger seat. Arriving at the Primary school, Sara went into the school to pick Maria up from after care.

"Sara!" Maria noticed her the minute she walked in. Running up and giving her a huge hug. Maria wouldn't let go so Sara picked her up and walked out to the car.

"Hi Nick"

"Hi Maria, how are you?"

"Good."

"Okay, now where to?" Nick asked looking at Sara.

"We need to go pick up Mel, then to Gil's" Sara responded but didn't look at Nick.

"Why Grissom's?"

"I had to stay with someone for a few days earlier this week, and he offered so I accepted, but I want to go back to my apartment."

"Ok, but I have a question?"

"Shoot"

"When are you returning to work?" Nick let his eyes glide over to view her reaction.

"I'll be in tomorrow. But I get weekends off, well most weekends."

"You like working Day Shift?"

"It's the same work, Nick, just a different time of the day with different people and hell I miss all of you guys."

Nick laughed and placed a hand on Sara's leg, "We miss you too."

"Nick, it hasn't even been a week, how sad is that?"

"We're your family, Sara, don't forget that, not seeing you every day is like not drinking water."

Surprised by what Nick admitted she added, "Just think of when we don't work on the same case. We'll like never see each other." She let a stray tear down her cheek.

When they picked up Mel, they greeted each other, but the rest of the car ride was quite.

Arriving at Grissom's townhouse, Sara turned to the girls, "Can each of you get your belongings and come back out to the car?"

"Why!?!" Maria screamed.

"We're going to be going to my apartment. You'll still have to share a room though."

"What about Gil?" Mel wondered out loud.

"He's still at work."

"He is? I haven't seen him since this morning." Nick responded looking really confused.

"Sara, why don't you be honest with us and tell us what is going on." Mel stated defiantly.

"I will once you go get your stuff." She paused, "Can you gather mine too?"

"Sure." Mel responded while slipping out of the car.

After they were inside the townhouse, Nick turned to Sara, "What the hell is going on Sara?"

"Nick, can you ask me that in a few days when I actually know?"

"Sorry." Nick paused, "was it Grissom who you were arguing with before I came into the hospital room?"

"No, Grissom was the one who was comforting me and helping me." _And now he has push away, again._ Sara added to herself.

Mel and Maria appeared from the house several minutes later, they had put their stuff into the truck and Nick drove out of the driveway towards her apartment.

"Thanks for the help Nick. Will I see you tomorrow?" Sara said when she was sliding out of the car.

"Depending on the case that we are working on, probably." And at that he got that smile out of Sara.

---

Three days have passed, and Catherine was getting worried, like really worried. She hadn't heard from Grissom. Ecklie has been questioning her about his whereabouts even though she didn't have any idea.

"Hey Cath, I need your help, do you think you can drive Mel and Maria to school on weekdays? And Lindsey can come stay at my apartment while you are at work, that way your mother isn't always pissed at you because she isn't able to have a life."

Catherine chuckled at this and agreed. "How've you been doing with the girls?"

"It's only been a few days, but I think they are adjusting great!" Sara said with a smile.

"How do you like being a Supervisor?"

"Paperwork!" Sara breathed out.

"Yes, there is a lot of that!" Catherine chuckled.

"Hey, do you know where Grissom has been?"

Catherine was nervous that Sara was going to ask that. "No I haven't. Ecklie has been hounding me to find him, but I've been to his townhouse, and found out that he changed the locks, since my key doesn't work anymore."

And with that Sara walked out of Catherine's office.

---

"GIL!!"

"Hello Roger, it's been a long time!"

"I can't believe that you've come out here!" Roger paused, "Seriously, I haven't seen you in years! You look great!"

"Yes well I've been a workaholic since we've graduated college."

"Here, come, I'll introduce you to some of my employees." Roger was showing Grissom the different areas of the lab and in search for some of his day shift CSIs. "Hannah!" Roger yelled at a tall brunette who was coming out of the DNA lab. "Hannah, this is Dr. Gil Grissom from the Las Vegas Crime Lab, Gil, this is Hannah Kant, Day shift Supervisor."

"Wait, Grissom, as in the entomologist?" Hannah questioned.

"Yes."

"Welcome to the Virginia Crime Lab. I have to go. Case." And with that Hannah left practically running down the corridor to her office. Digging out her cell phone she hit the speed dial button.

After letting the phone ring 3 times she thought of hanging up until she heard a voice. "Sara?"

"Hannah?"

"Hey Sara, how've you been, we haven't talk in the past 2 weeks."

"I'm good, taking care of my nieces, but that's a story for a time when we are together."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I have vacation time and the girls have vacation in a week for thanksgiving, would you mind entertaining?"

"Of course not!" Hannah shrieked.

"Okay well I'll let you know how things plan out with everything. Go back to work or Roger will have my ass for keeping you from it." Sara said laughingly.

"Miss you!" Hannah spoke into the phone.

"Hannah get off the phone with Sara and get back to work, but before you do tell her I say hi." Roger said from the hallway.

"Roger says hi, and I have to go, bye!" Hannah closed the phone.

"Roger!" Hannah called.

"What?"

"Thanksgiving, my house, everyone is invited, you too Dr. Grissom." Hannah looked at his surprised expression.


	4. Chapter 4

Thicker than Blood: Part four

Disclaimer: Don't own them

Hey, you guys are lucky, I didn't go to practice.

---

The next few days passed, Catherine and Sara had become even closer. Mel and Lindsey were inseparable.

Walking into the lab, Catherine noticed Sara was still in her office.

"Hey, what are you still doing here?"

Pulling the headphones out of her ears, she looked up at Catherine, "What are you still doing here?"

"Finishing up paperwork, signing off reports, since you are in charge of the Belmont case, I get all the other reports from grave to sign off for. Where the hell is Grissom, he should be doing this!?!?!" Sara shoved the reports to the edge of her desk.

"Well we still don't know where he is, and surprisingly Ecklie hasn't been yelling at me for his disappearance."

"Wait, what?"

Catherine thinking along the lines, they both walk out of Sara's office going straight for Ecklie's. Arriving at the door Catherine knocked.

"Come in." Ecklie paused, "oh, hi Catherine." Ecklie concentrating back onto the paperwork in front of him.

"Have you found out where Grissom is?" Catherine paused hoping for an immediate answer, "I haven't been able to contact him and you've been slamming cases on Sara's shift. Why haven't you hired a temp yet?"

"I have hired a temp, she'll be here after Thanksgiving." Ecklie stated not even glancing up from his paperwork.

"Her?" Catherine questioned.

"Yes, her name is Michelle Bethany."

Sara's head snapped up. "Did you just say Michelle Bethany?"

"Yes I did Sidle, what does it mean to you?"

"We went to Harvard together. We were roommates for 2 years. I thought she was working in Virginia?"

"She was, she's coming here after Thanksgiving because she has family out there who she is spending the holiday with." Ecklie elaborated.

Sara walked out to think about what this could mean.

"Wow Ecklie, I'm amazed. You hired another woman! Soon we're going to outnumber you guys." Catherine said as she walked out, hearing Ecklie's response crystal clear, "She's only a temp!"

---

VIRGINIA: 2 days before Thanksgiving…

Walking down the hall to the break room, Grissom still can't get his mind away from Sara. _I left, I just…left. _

"Grissom, you ok?" Hannah asked from standing next to him.

"Yes, why?"

"I called your name three times, you didn't respond, or flinch."

"Oh, I have a lot on my mind." Grissom lied.

"Who's the woman you can't keep your mind off of?" Hannah paused and received an inquisitive stare from Grissom before continuing, "I've observed you since you got here, you really don't remember me, do you?"

Grissom snapped his head up when he heard her question. Before he could respond she had walked off.

_I know her…..from where? Should I remember her? _Grissom thought.

"Hey, Gil!"

"Roger, I was just looking for you."

"Are you joining us at Hannah's house for Thanksgiving?"

"I was going to spend it with you."

"So come, it'll be good for you. You'll get to meet most of the other CSI's, who always seem to run when they see me."

"Oh so they've learned to be afraid of you…already?"

"Hey, I've only be Assistant Director for about a month, I can't be _that_ mean!"

"Really?" Grissom chuckled.

"So can you help us with this case?"

"Should be able to. I'm going to do a linear regression of the flies."

"All I need to know is whether or not you can help Gil. You know how much bugs creep me out!" Roger paused looking at the smirk on Grissom's face. "After all you are the one that had pulled that prank on me."

--

VEGAS: 1 day before Thanksgiving…

"Ecklie, here are all the grave cases that I've signed off on," Sara said placing the stack of files on his desk, "and here are all the days cases that I've signed off on," placing another stack of files on his desk. "Maria is cleared to leave, right?" Ecklie nodded. "Now I am on vacation for a week and a half. Have a good Thanksgiving Ecklie." Sara said on her way out of his office.

Sara stopped at Catherine's office on her way out, leaning on the door jam, "Cath, I'm leaving."

"When's your flight?"

"Tomorrow morning, at 6."

"Oh that's going to be fun!"

"Oh yes, just joyous! I have to get going, I'll see you when I get back. Have a good Thanksgiving."

"Bye, Sara." Catherine replied.

Sara turned and walked out of the lab. Walking out to her car, she pulled out her cell phone and hit the speed dial button.

"Kant"

"Hey Hannah!"

"Hey Sara, what's up?"

"Just calling to let you know that our flight leaves at 6, we should be arriving at your house around 1ish."

"Ok darling, I'll make sure there is beer in the fridge when you arrive, the guys are coming over around noon."

"Ok, see you tomorrow." Sara said snapping the phone shut. Slide into her car and drove home.

Unlocking the door to her apartment, Sara kept thinking of Grissom. She couldn't get her mind off of him. _Where could he be? He wouldn't just leave for no reason_… her mind kept streaming.

"Sara!!!" Maria shrieked at the top of her lungs, and came rushing towards her.

"Hey girl. How are you? Are you all packed?"

"Yes, I am. Mel is finishing up, and Lindsey is helping her."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm watching cartoons, want to join me?"

"Sure, but only for a little while. I still have to pack."

After watching 2 shows, Sara went into her bedroom to start packing. Grabbing random clothes, not caring what she threw in, just making sure she had enough clothes for the week and a half she was gone.

"What do you all want for dinner tonight?" Sara shouted from her room, so she knew that Lindsey and Mel both heard her.

"How about Mexican take-out?" Mel said leaning on the door jam.

"Don't ask me, ask Maria and Lindsey, and make sure that you all agree on 6 dishes. We'll do it buffet style."

"Okay." Mel turned away. Sara heard her talking to Lindsey and Maria. Arriving at a decision, Sara places the order for the girls, and started cleaning the apartment before they left.

The food arrived, and the girls started to chow down. Mel and Lindsey sat on the couch. Maria sat on the floor, cross-legged with a pillow on her lap and plate on top of the pillow. Sara had her laptop set up at the breakfast bar, so she sat there.

"Lindsey, you do know that we are leaving here before your mom is out of work?"

"Yeah, she wanted me to ask you if you could drop me off at the lab before going to the airport."

"Yeah, no problem but when were you planning on asking me?"

"When you inquired." Lindsey said turning back to the TV.

They decided to watch a movie, and with the first 40 minutes of it, Maria fell asleep. Sara picked up Maria's sleeping form and put her in her bed. By the time the movie finished, Mel and Lindsey were asleep on the couch. Sara went to her bedroom to hopefully get a few hours of shut eye.

Tossing and turning for hours on end, Sara decided to get up. She was already packed for her trip, and couldn't go to work. She decided to read her e-mail. _Inbox (106)_. Sara read. _Joy!_ After reading several e-mails she receives an IM.

**KissMEKant: **Hey, what are you doing up? Shouldn't you be sleeping?

**SSidle: **You really need to change your screenname.

**KissMEKant:** But why? I've had this since we went to Berkley! I'm keeping it! And you're avoiding my question.

**SSidle:** Yes I should be asleep but I can't, I keep tossing and turning.

**KissMEKant:** Who's the guy you can't stop thinking about?

**SSidle:** Han, don't you dare go there, you know how much I hate talking about it. It makes me feel worse.

Sara paused in typing and looked over at the clock. 3 AM.

**KissMEKant:** Get over him already!

**SSidle:** Shouldn't you be sleeping since you have company to entertain and food to cook?

**KissMEKant:** I actually went to bed at 11 last night.

**SSidle:** really, now? He wasn't up for any?

**KissMEKant:** We have a guest. His friend from college is staying here with us for a little while. You'll meet him today.

**SSidle:** Hey, what's up with Michelle coming to temp in Vegas?

**KissMEKant:** She and Warren broke up. She hasn't been working for the past 3 months. She's coming to dinner today too, along with Warren but I told them that they have to behave, and I'll have you here to help distract one of them.

**SSidle:** Okay, well that's going to be interesting. I have an idea though, just get them both really drunk.

**KissMEKant:** hahaha, yeah that would get them back together until they remember why they broke up.

**SSidle:** Why did they?

**KissMEKant:** I don't know the full story, all I know is that they aren't together and Warren really pissed off Michelle.

**SSidle:** Great, so that means if they don't get back together over this Thanksgiving then I am going to have to put up with a pissed off Michelle?

**KissMEKant:** Have fun with that.

**SSidle:** Thanks, you're such a loving friend!

**KissMEKant:** be right back Sar, I think I hear someone.

**SSidle:** It's probably your guest.

**KissMEKant:** Yeah well I'm not use to having someone here who is use to stay awake at night.

Sara went to go get some food from the cabinet, and walked to check on the girls. Pulling out her phone on the way back to her laptop, she dialed Catherine.

"Willows"

"Hey, Cath."

"Hi Sara what's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted me to drop Lindsey off at the lab. She did tell me that you wanted me too but they didn't go to bed until around eleven, so I was thinking just let her sleep here and you come pick her up when you get off?" Sara compromised.

"It's pretty slow around here. I can come and pick her up in about an hour?"

"Okay, that works."

---

Hannah heard a noise downstairs. She told Sara that she was going to go check it out.

Walking down the stairs slowly, not wanting to make them creak. Hannah turned around the corner into the living room. Noticing that Gil wasn't sleeping on the couch, Hannah walked into the kitchen.

"Hey baby."

"Hey, what are you doing up?" Hannah asked, a little shocked.

"Went to sleep too early, and I'm assuming you did too since you were on your laptop in the study."

"Hey Roger- oh, hi Hannah." Gil said turning around the corner from the bathroom.

"Hi Gil."

"Shame shame Roger." Gil said teasingly.

"You shouldn't be saying anything. You tell me about that girl you met at Berkley, teaching a seminar. " Roger looked up to the shocked expression on Gil's face. "Yes, I remember!"

"But that's different, I'm not dating her."

"But you hired her as a CSI on your team." Hannah let it slip out.

"Wait, what? How do you know that?" Gil questioned curiously at Hannah.

"She's my friend. I was at that seminar too." Hannah glanced over at Roger.

"Oh no no no, Sara?!?!?!?" Roger shouted at the top of his lungs.

"You know her too?" Gil asked.

"Through Hannah but still. Wait that means, oh no." turning to look at Hannah, "you planned this!"

"Not really. I didn't make the connection until you introduced us at the lab. Then when I was talking to her I got an idea and yeah, I played it out." Hannah explained.

"Wait, Sara, the girl you were talking to on the phone that Roger said hi to was Sara, Sara Sidle?"

"Yes." Hannah answered.

"And she is coming here…for Thanksgiving?"

"Well not just Thanksgiving. She's brining her niece's and staying for a week-"

"A WEEK!?!?!?" Grissom interrupted.

"Well actually a week and a half," Roger whispered.

"Great, just great. I leave Vegas to get away from her and she follows me here. Here of all places." Grissom huffed furiously. Looking at Roger, "Can I connect to the internet?"

"Yes, the house is wireless."

"One question…" Gil looked over at Hannah.

"Yeah?"

"Where is she staying?"

"Here. My apartment is too small for 4 people, the girls are in one of the guest rooms, and Sara is going to stay on the couch in the study. And you've been upgraded from the couch in the living room to the other guest room. I just needed to clean out some of the boxes."

"Boxes?" Grissom inquired.

"Yeah, I'm in the process of moving here." Hannah responded.

Gil just gave Roger the warning look.

Gil backed off and walked back into the living room. Grabbing his laptop before sitting down, connecting to the internet, Gil was trying to think of a way out of this_. I really don't want to see her, not now, I left. _Gil's mind wouldn't stop thinking of her. _But I love her. Maybe I'll just stay and see how things play out. _

Walking back into the kitchen, "Does she know I am here?"

"No, I mentioned that a friend of Roger's was here, but I didn't say your name." Hannah responded.

"Gil, wait, did you not tell her that you were leaving Vegas?" Roger butted in.

"Well no, I didn't, I didn't tell anyone except the Sheriff that I was going on sabbatical for a month."

"So that's why she ain't sleeping." Hannah mumbled to herself.

"What?" Roger looked over at Hannah, Gil had the same curious expression on his face.

"She has been burying herself in her work, if that's what you want to call it. She hasn't slept much. That actually who I was talking online to before I came down. I pressed the matter on why she couldn't sleep, she never really said anything though. I think she's having trouble adjusting with the girls there, especially since she works days."

"Wait she works days now?!" Roger's face in total shock.

"Yeah, she thought that it would be better with the girls and all. She's the day shift supervisor." Hannah responded.

"Wow, I'm amazed. That 'threat' that Sara gave him must have really woke him up." Roger looked over to Hannah.

"What are you talking about?" Gil looked between Hannah and Roger.

"Do you want to explain this one, Roger?" Hannah looked over at him.

"Yeah sure." Pausing to think where to start. "Okay, well I offered Sara a position her about a month ago because she was really pissed off for some reason and wanted to leave Vegas. I had offered her a Supervisor position on Grave." Roger paused to look at Gil's face then proceeded to continue. "She said that she needed to talk to Ecklie. I'm guessing since I haven't heard from her that she isn't coming here."

"But she had put in a letter of resignation to Ecklie, but he was too worried about the solve rate for the lab going down that he decided to find a reason to hire her besides the fact she's a really good CSI. He covered it up by her nieces showing up and needing a guardian." Hannah concluded.

"She was planning on leaving…me." Gil didn't realize that he spoke out loud. Looking up and seeing their mouths agape at what he just revealed.

"Wait, did you two finally get together?" Hannah questioned after a long moment of silence.

"Yeah, until I left." Gil mumbled.

They sat there in the kitchen in silence until it was broken by Hannah cell phone ringing.

"Kant."

"Hey, is everything okay? You never came back to the computer."

"Yes, Sara, I'm fine, I actually forgot that you were still online. Sorry."

Hannah looked over to see Roger and Gil staring at her. "Do one of you want to talk to her?" Hannah questioned, not bothering to cover the mouthpiece.

Gil shook his head. So Roger walked over taking the phone from Hannah.

"Hey Girl. You should be sleeping, and I mean that. You know how bad it is when you don't sleep and I don't want to have to deal with a cranky Sidle along with Michelle and Warren." Roger was rambling and he knew it.

"Oh shut it Roger. There is only one reason why you ramble, and that's when you are nervous."

"Yeah I know."

"Wait, what is going on?"

"Oh nothing much, I think we all went to sleep a little bit too early since we are all awake. We were just chatting." Roger paused for a moment before continuing, "WHEN THE HELL DID YOU BECOME SUPERVISOR!!!!!" Roger bellowed into the phone, leaving Sara startled on the other side.

"Um, well about that….I'm re-thinking that…a lot actually."


	5. Chapter 5

Thicker than Blood: Part Five

Sara was resting on her bed when she heard a knock at the door. Slowly getting up to answer it she glanced at the clock. 4:45 AM.

Opening the door just enough, she saw Catherine and opened it all the way to let her in.

"Hey"

"Hey, where is Lindsey?"

"They fell asleep watching a movie, I really didn't feel like waking them, so I left them there. We have to leave soon. I just realized the time." Sara said picking up the girls bags. "I'm going to go and put these in my car, I'll be right back."

"Ok, do you want me to wake up Mel too?"

"Yeah, wake Mel up but let Maria sleep." Sara responded walking out the door.

When she arrived back into her apartment the girls were in the middle of saying good-bye.

"Have a good time Sara. Just think you could meet a guy there."

"Ha ha Cath, very funny. You have the information for our flight, Hannah's address and house number?"

"Yes, I have it all on the paper that you gave me. Stop worrying, everything will be fine here, have fun."

Sara turned to Mel, "Go get in the car, I'm going to bring Maria out once I shut off everything."

"Ok, I'll bring out the rest of the bags." Mel informed Sara before she walked into her and Maria's shared room.

After walking around the apartment to make sure everything is turned off, Sara walked into Maria's room noticing that she had a few nightmares because of the askew covers. Sara slowly picked Maria up trying hard not to wake her. She walked outside and placed Maria in the back seat where Mel attached her buckle.

After saying their good-byes to Catherine and Lindsey, they drove to the airport in complete silence.

---

The flight was really uneventful, Mel and Maria slept, Sara couldn't even if she tried. She re-read the same article several times because every time she started really it and got into it her mind would wander off and think of Grissom.

_What the hell went wrong? We were happy, even for the short period of time that we were together. Wait, oh wait. I'm the reason he left. No!! That can't be! _Sara thought.

---

Sara had Mel watch Maria and the luggage while she went to go rent a car. The line wasn't that long, but she got board of waiting after a while. _It would have been easier if I had Hannah or Roger come pick me up. _Sara thought.

"Miss, I can help you at this counter." The lady said waving her hand at Sara. "How can I help you?"

"I reserved a car for the next week and a half."

"Okay, what's your name?"

"Sara Sidle."

"Okay" She paused to organize papers, "can you sign these, and would you like insurance?"

"No she won't, they always jack the price of the insurance when you really don't need it." A guy said standing behind Sara.

Sara turned around to see a tall 6 foot guy that has floppy curly brown hair, adorable chocolate brown eyes, and a smile that will make you melt. "Michael." Sara whispered.

"Come on, I have a car. No need for you to rent one." Michael said grabbing her hand and starting to walk.

"But do you have a booster seat."

"Yes, Hannah mentioned that you have guardianship of your nieces."

They walked quietly over to where Mel and Maria were sitting with the luggage. Michael let go of Sara's hand when they reached the girls, but Sara forgot that he was even holding her hand.

"Ready to go?" Sara said when the girls looked up.

"Yeah, but who's this?" Mel asked pointing to Michael.

"This is Michael, a friend of mine."

"Ah, okay, can we go, I really hate holiday traveling. Too many people." Mel said as she started walking towards the parking lot.

"And how old is she?" Michael asked.

"She's 15. Believe it?" Sara asked as she picked up her carry-on, and held Maria hand.

They were all packed away in the car, Michael started driving towards Roger's. The girls were preoccupied the whole time with their ipods. Periodically looking over at Michael, Sara couldn't understand why he was doing this. She racked her brain to come to a conclusion but couldn't find one. "Michael, why the hell are you doing this?"

Glancing over at Sara noting that she was serious, he had to think of a reason to give because he couldn't just spring the real reason on her. _Do I dare tell her? Nah, I'll wait for that. _Michael thought to himself.

"I can't do a nice thing for my friend?"

"Michael, we haven't spoken since I left San Francisco for Vegas." She paused to see if she would get a reaction out of him. "You kept avoiding my calls, deleting my e-mails, and probably burning my letters. What the hell changed?"

"Sara, I… I honestly don't know what to say." He paused and glanced over at her. "And for the record, I didn't burn the letters, I read them, I didn't delete your e-mails, I read them."

_Does he still have feelings for me? Oh jeez, did he hear that I might be taking a job here? Oh crap, no! Damn this is going to be one very interesting vacation._ Sara let her mind wander.

"How long are you here for?" Sara asked 15 minutes later, still staring out the window, noting that they were getting close to Roger's house.

"I live here Sara." He paused to understand how she didn't know this, then went on explaining, "When the e-mails started to slow down, and the letters stopped, I couldn't stand living there anymore, I put it my resignation to Joe, finished the last 2 weeks, and left. Came here to live with Warren for a little while. Did job searching, I took a job for the feds for about 2 years almost 3 then Roger had just become Assistant Director of the lab, and they needed to fill a Night Shift Supervisor position. He offered, I accepted."

"How long have you been here?" Sara asked trying not to seem effected.

"A little over 3 years."

"Are we there yet?" Maria asked from the backseat.

"We will be there in less than a minute, just need to pull into this driveway." Michael said as doing so.

While Sara and Michael are unloading the luggage from the car, Roger spots them from the kitchen window. "Hannah, Michael is here!" Roger shouted up the stairs.

"Who's Michael?" Gil questioned.

"The Night Shift Supervisor." Roger responded while opening the door.

"Hi Roger!" Michael said lugging two suitcases in with the girls in tow.

"How about everyone goes into the living room and finds a seat, I'll help the girls with their luggage." Hannah said from the top of the stairs.

Gil, Michael and Roger wandered into the living room, while Hannah stood at the door waiting for Sara. Roger made introductions while waiting in the living room.

"Hey, where's your car?" Hannah asked as Sara walked up the walkway.

"Michael was at the airport. He drove us here."

"OoO."

"Don't start Han. This is the first time I've seen or talked to him since I left for Vegas."

"Is that Sara I hear?!" Roger bellowed from the living room with a smirk gracing his face.

"Roger!" Sara stepped into the embrace with her friend.

"I've missed you guys!" Sara said burying her face in Roger's shoulder, trying to hold back the tears.

"Hey, I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine from college." Roger whispered in her ear. "I think you will really like him."

Sara pulled back from Roger's embrace.

"Sara," turning toward Gil who was sitting on the armchair in the corner of the room. "I think you know who he is." Roger said with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Hi Sara."

"What….what..uh..what are you doing here?" Sara tried to process everything at once.

"Visiting Roger for Thanksgiving and helping in out that the lab. Where do you think I went?"

Sara thought for a minute about everything before responding, "Off the face of this goddamn Earth!" And with that Sara stormed out of the living room and into the guest bathroom.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Hannah came into the living room just to be pushed back by Michael who was running up the stairs.

Knocking gently on the door, "Sara, it's Michael, do you wanna talk about it?"

"NO!" Sara responded.

He could tell that she was crying. Hand on the doorknob, he turned it but it wouldn't budge. "Sara, move away from the door, please."

"No." She mumbled.

"Do you need help Michael?"

"Not from the person who made her upset." Michael responded hastily.

"Grissom, just leave, that's what you did before!" Sara said through the door, starting to cry harder at the memory.

"Sara, honey, don't do this, we need to talk."

Sara opened the door and was staring at Grissom.

"If we need to talk, then talk."

"Alone, please?" Grissom moved closer to her. But she took a step back, further into the bathroom.

"Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it right here."

"Sara, I know that you probably haven't said a word to anyone around here about what happened." Grissom retorted.

"You know what, you're right. I haven't told them. But what I have to tell them, isn't something I could tell them over the phone!"

By now Hannah, Roger and Michelle were standing behind Michael.

Remembering what she was going to tell them suddenly brought back the memories of all the events that had occurred in the previous two months.

"Hey Sar, you alright?" Hannah's tone was full of concern, ad she pushed through the group to get to Sara. Circling her arm around Sara's waist and leading her downstairs, she suddenly feels all of Sara's weight. "Sara?" Hannah caught Sara before she fell head first down the stairs. "Guys, can I have some help here?" Hannah yelled up the stairs.

Michael and Roger rush to pick up Sara from Hannah's grip. Roger got his arm beneath her knees and supported Sara's upper body with his other arm. Carefully walking down the stairs Roger walks into the living room to see Warren sitting there. Standing up abruptly when Warren sees Roger carrying Sara in he asks, "What the hell happened to her?"

"Calm down Warren. It's really a long story so let's just go find Mel and Maria." Michelle said trying to sound calm herself.

"I'm going to go get water and a washcloth." Hannah said as she walked away towards the kitchen.

"Sara, come on honey, wake up. Please?" Gil said caressing her cheek.

"I never meant to leave, I just drove. I didn't plan on staying wherever I ended up. All I could think about when I was at this lab is how much I must have hurt you by leaving. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just left. Honey, am I too late?" Gil whispered in her ear and squeezing her hand.

"Gil?" Roger asked, with a look of curiosity, concern, and pain all wrapped in one.

"I'll fill you in later, Roger. Should we call an EMT?"

"Since she hasn't regain consciousness, then we defiantly should call an ambulance." Roger concluded.

"I already called. They should be here in a few minutes." Michael said walking back into the room, glancing over at Gil who was whispering something in to Sara's ear again.

"Roger, what type of relationship do they have?" Michael kept his eyes locked onto Sara's still form.

"Honestly, I don't know. Hannah probably knows a little but more on the subject since they were both at Berkeley when they met Gil." Roger paused and glanced at the door. "Is it true that you and Sara haven't talked since she left for Vegas?"

"Sort of. She sent me e-mails, letters and called me but I never responded to any of them, it was hard, but I moved on." He paused to glance over at Roger. "Well at least I thought I did."

"They're here!" Hannah screamed.

"Hey Hannah, what's going on?"

"Hey Brian, my friend Sara Sidle was crying and then we tried to get her to walk down stairs, I was guiding her, but then she just fainted or something."

"Okay, I'm going to need all her information." Turning towards the door, "Hank get in here now!"

"Sorry, I grabbed your bag too."

"Thanks. Can you check her vitals while I get her info."

"Of course."

"Ok, Hannah go ahead, Sara Sidle, age-"

"Age 37, not allergic to any meds, was admitted into Desert Palms hospital a few weeks ago for alcohol poisoning, and then a few days after that for a miscarriage."

"WHAT!!!!!" Roger, Hannah, and Michael all yell.

"Grissom, you going to be coming with her to the hospital, we're going to need to run some tests." Hank asked.

"Yes." Grissom responded without thinking. "When did you move here?"

"This is my 5th day here. I couldn't stay in Vegas and I think you know why."

"Irony, I came here because I couldn't deal with it." Grissom chuckled as a tear fell.

"We'll follow in the car." Roger ushered everyone out.

"I'm going to stay here with the kids. Bring Warren to the hospital, he'll wanna be there for Sara." Michael moved out of the way down the hallway.

"Grissom, do you know when she got released from Desert Palms? And what medications she was taking?" Hank asked.

"I don't remember, sorry. I can call someone to see if they know."

"Would you?"

"If it'll help her, yes. You guys go ahead I'll get a ride."

"Ok, thanks." Hank responded as they lifted the stretcher.

Grissom pulled out his new cell phone and called a number that he had memorized.

---

(A/N) I know that this chapter is a little short but I wanted to get it to all of you before I leave tomorrow. I am going to try and write some more tomorrow on my 3 hour drive to Bretton Woods. So hopfully there will be another chapter tuesday or wednesday.


	6. Chapter 6

Thicker than Blood Part 6

"Willows"

"Hey Cath."

"Grissom! Where the hell have you been?!"

"I drove, that's all I did, and I ended up here."

"Here? Where is 'here'?"

"I'm in Virginia visiting my friend Roger LeBlanc. And I'm helping out them at the lab for a little while but I doubt I will be here long. So you won't be stuck with all of my paperwork, just most of it."

"Yeah well I won't have to deal with it when the temp arrives."

"Wait what, Ecklie is actually hiring a temp?" Grissom sounded amazed.

"Yeah she is coming from–"

"Catherine, I'm sorry but I need to know some information soon and this is kind of a sensitive question. Do you know who picked Sara up from the hospital?"

"Uh yeah, I believe Nick did?" Catherine's curiosity kicking in.

"I was just wondering because she had asked me to pick her up. Do you know if she was taking any medications after she came out of the hospital?"

"No she wasn't. We've been hanging out a lot on days off over the past two weeks and I haven't seen her take a single medication."

"Okay, thanks Catherine. I should be back in the next month or two."

"A month or two!"

"Yes Cath, I need a break from Vegas." And with that Grissom hung up.

"Ready to go Gil?"Roger asked holding keys in his hands.

"Yeah, Did the ambulance already leave?"

"Yes, they left about 5 minutes ago."

The drive to the hospital was silent. Roger was driving as fast as he could without hitting anything. Arriving at the hospital in under 15 minutes, Gil and Roger both ran from the car to the ER.

Arriving inside Grissom saw Hank leaning against the reception desk talking to the nurse.

"Hank, as far as Catherine knows Sara hasn't taken any meds in the past few weeks."

"Well she's going to be alright. I thought that she was taking medication that reacts badly when drinking alcohol."

"Well she hadn't had any, so I could have ruled that out for you. What was wrong?" Gil asked genuinely concerned for Sara's well being.

"The stress from the previous weeks, the fact that she was extremely dehydrated and the alcohol she had ingested on the plane caused her to pass out. She had regained consciousness for a few minutes but now I think she is sleeping it off. Her doctor will be in to talk to you. He said that you and her friends can go in to see her."

"Thanks Hank." Grissom responded walking down the hall.

"Room 309b" Hank shouted from the reception desk.

Gil acknowledged with a wave of his hand over his head without turning around.

Looking at her sleeping peacefully he didn't want to disturb her.

"You going to go in?" Hannah questioned as she approached his side.

"I don't think I can."

"Why not?"

"I left I just left. I didn't mean to hurt her, I shouldn't have left but I just drove."

"Go in," Hannah said holding the door open. "She loves you, she has waited for you, I don't think you leaving will matter. The fact that you're here with her now, that's what matters to her."

Gil nodded and walked in, he was having trouble holding back the tears that threatened to spill over. He sat down on the side of the bed and held her hand, leaned closer to her and whispered his plead in her ear, "I never meant to leave, I just drove. I didn't plan on staying wherever I ended up. All I could think about when I was at this lab is how much I must have hurt you by leaving. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just left. Honey, am I too late?"

He stared at her face for a good five minutes and her eyes didn't flutter and her breathing had the same rhythm as before. Gil couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

Sara could feel the warm tears falling on her arm. She had heard everything Gil had said and she could tell that he was really confused about what to do and really hurt by the fact that she was in a hospital bed.

Gil couldn't just sit there and do nothing waiting for her to wake. He jumped up, letting go of Sara's hand in the process and started pacing back and forth through the small hospital room.

"Why did you let go?" Sara's strong voice filled the room.

Gil spun around so fast that he almost fell over. "I'm so sorry I left. I shouldn't–" Sara silenced him by holding her hand up.

"Gil, I heard what you kept whispering in my ear. I heard it at the house, then I got scared because I didn't hear it for a while," she paused to gauge his reaction to what she revealed then proceeded "I want you to come home, everything just happened so fast that I didn't know what to tell you or what to do for that matter. I want you to come home, "she paused and looked into his eyes before saying the last two words, "to me."

Gil didn't have time to respond to what Sara said because doctors have the worst timing in the world!

"Hello Sara, I'm Dr. Jordi Calvin. Would you like to talk about what happened today?" he asked grabbing the chair and sitting down opening her chart.

"Um, well not really but I doubt that I have a choice."

"You've been in a similar situation like this before?"

"Yes, several times. You don't have my file, do you?"

"No, it's not necessary since you aren't in severe danger and don't need surgery."

"Okay well I had a few drinks on the plane to loosen me up since I dislike flying, and then we were arguing at my friend's house and I passed out."

"That shouldn't have happened unless there is something you aren't telling me. The EMT informed me that you had a miscarriage and you were admitted into the hospital before that for alcohol poisoning." Dr. Calvin said as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"And who is this EMT?"

"Hank." Grissom said looking Sara dead in the eye.

"What?! Is he stalking me now!" Sara shouted.

"Sara, honey, calm down, he's been here before you even got here. He said that he needed to get out of Vegas." Gil said in a soothing tone.

"Oh." Was all that Sara could say.

"Ok, once that IV bag finishes you are good to go. But I would advise you to stay away from alcohol for a while." Dr. Calvin said and opened the door to walk out but turned around and said, "It was good to see you again Sara."

Sara whipped her head around to look at the doc. "What?"

"I said, it was good to see you again Sara."

"Yeah I heard that, but what?" Sara said again, confusion masking her face.

"You don't remember me?" Jordi paused, thinking of getting her to remember somehow. "Come one Sly, think!"

"Jordi Donohue!" Sara exclaimed.

"Wait wait wait. When did you change your last name? Dye your hair? Get so fricken tall? Get a medical degree?" Sara said extremely fast.

"Lets see, two years after you left the group home, I was placed with a foster family, and they wanted me to change my name, of course I was going o do it willingly. I haven't dyed my hair, it's natural, I always dyed my hair when I was in the system. And I'm only three years younger than you Sara, when was the last time you saw me?"

"Shut up!" Sara said jokingly.

"Yes I know, it's been a while. I have to get back to work, it's good to see you Sara."

"Bye Jordi."

The hold time Gil had his eyes on Sara.

"Hey, come here." Sara said as she caught Gil's gaze. "Come sit." Patting the bed.

Gil walked over to the bed and sat next to Sara, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. They stayed like that for two hours in silence. She was discharged from the hospital when the IV dip finished.

The drive back to Roger's house was very quiet. Hannah noticed as she drove that Sara kept whispering quotes and phrase in Gil's ear, and he had smile every time. Hannah couldn't hear everything that was being spoken but she noticed that Sara was extremely happy.

Back at the house Michael had gotten a call from Roger, informing them of what happened. Michael was relieved that she wasn't in an incredible amount of danger. He also knew that if she had to stay overnight that would drive her insane. Since he had time on his hands before they came back from the hospital he decided to prepare the turkey and get it start cooking, while Warren and Michelle play card games with Mel and Maria.

When Sara, Gil, Hannah, and Roger arrived back at the house, Sara was immediately relieved to be able to rest comfortably. Everyone left her alone to rest while they prepared the rest of the dinner.

Maria came into the living room with tearstained cheeks, "I thought I was going to lose you." Maria whispered in Sara's ear.

"Come on up here sweetie, you can rest here with me. Maybe Hannah and roger will let you put on a movie."

Before sitting on Sara's lap, Maria ran into the kitchen to ask Hannah and Roger if she could watch a movie. Seeing their heads bobbing up and down, Maria ran out of the kitchen back into the living room. Placing the DVD on the tray and watching the movie come up on the screen, Maria gathered her blanket and bundled herself up in Sara's lap.

About an hour later Gil entered into the living room her saw Sara and Maria, and his heart just melted. He noticed that Maria was already asleep and Sara was struggling to keep her eyes open so he knelt down on one knee, "Rest sweetheart, I'll wake you when dinner is almost ready." He whispered in her ear then kissed her temple. "Mmmm…." was all he got for a reply.

Gil hadn't noticed Michael standing in the entryway who was observing the sight before him. When Gil got up Michael finally said something, "You love her, don't you?" Michael asked still staring at Gil.

"Yes I do, I love her a lot more than she will ever know." Gil responded, and with that Michael left the room.

Maria started to squirm in Sara's lap, which instantly woke her up. "Maria, calm down, shhhh…." Sara said trying to soothe her. But Maria kept letting out little whimpers which alerted Mel as well, who was still sitting in the recliner. "Shhhh, Maria you're safe, it's me, Aunt Sara, you're safe, he isn't going to hurt you." Sara tried to reason with the nightmare that was replaying in Maria's mind, and winning. A few minutes after that Maria stopped squirming and her eyes fluttered. "Honey, you're alright, see he isn't here. He can't hurt you anymore." Sara said making sure Maria understood. And yet suddenly realizing that what she is saying to Maria is what her brother Eric use to say to her whenever their father had hurt her. Maria had buried her face in Sara's hair against her shoulder.

Gil stood in the entryway of the living room watching this with amazement. _She's going to be an excellent mother_. Gil thought to himself even though they are on kind of thin ice at the moment, he knew things could only get better.

"Hey," Gil said placing a hand on Sara's shoulder.

"Everything is okay, she's calming down."

"You alright though?"

She could hear the concern in Gil's voice, "Yeah."

"Well dinner is almost ready, do you want to go sit down?" Gil paused to see if she would respond. "Warren and I set the table so that you could sit next to Maria and me, Mel will be on the other side of me. If that's okay with you?"

"Why wouldn't it be okay Gil?"

They got up, and Maria wrapped her skinny legs around Sara's waist as she walked into the dining room with Gil behind her.

"Maria, do you want to sit down next to me?" Sara asked kissing Maria's cheek.

"Yeah," she mumbled into Sara's shoulder.

"Okay, I'm going to put you down, ok?"

"Okay."

Sara placed her on the chair, and sat next to her. Gil sat next to Sara. Warren and Michelle were sitting across from them.

"So Warren, how have you been? It's been a long time since we've seen each other." Sara said initiating conversation.

"Everything's been good, I've been taking some time off, thinking of teaching so Michelle doesn't have to leave the lab."

"But I've already told you that I have left the lab, I accepted a job at a different lab." Michelle interrupted the conversation.

"Wait what?" Hannah asked walking in.

"I accepted a temp job as Night Shift Supervisor in Las Vegas." Michelle said coolly.

"WHAT!?!?!" Hannah, Michael, Warren and Gil bellowed, which scared Maria, who started crying.

"Aww, Maria, come here," Sara said standing up and putting her arms out indicating Maria to come up. Sara carried Maria out into the living room.

"I took a job at the Las Vegas crime lab as a temp." Michelle repeated, "and please don't scream again, I don't want a pissed off Sidle after me for scaring Maria."

"Did Ecklie okay this?" Gil asked trying to figure out why Ecklie would do something like that.

"He is the one that asked me, my mother is his cousin and he said that if this works then he wants me to take over the swing shift since that supervisor is resigning or something."

"Oh" Gil remarked not even thinking of who swing shift supervisor is.

"Why?"

"Because I am the Graveyard Supervisor at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, and Sara is the Day Shift Supervisor."

"Wait, when did she leave San Fran?" Michelle asked looking over at Michael.

"She left when Gil asked her to come to Vegas." Michael said

"Wait, Michael, is that why you moved to Maine, and then to Vegas, and then here?" Michelle asked.

"MICHELLE!" Hannah, Roger, Michael, and Warren all bellowed.

"You came to Vegas?" Sara asked trying so hard to contain what emotions that were surging through her at that moment.

And at that question Michael walked out of the dinning room, and out through the front door, slamming it on his way out.

"Sara. Hon, he went to Vegas to win you back." Roger whispered unsure of how much to reveal, "he went to the lab and the receptionist told him that you were in the layout room looking over evidence on a case. When he looked through the window he claims that he saw a guy pinning you to a bloody sheet, hopefully testing a theory." Roger concluded.

"Jeez girl, when someone falls for you, they fall hard." Warren said trying to loosen the mood, which earned him a jab to the ribcage from Michelle.

"Sar, what do you expect? You were engaged to the guy." Hannah finally butting in, hoping that Gil would make a move.

Gil's head slowly rose to look at Sara in the eyes. She had been gazing at him since the beginning of the conversation, with an occasional glance to the others.

So much was conveyed through the mere minutes they held each others gazes. Sara then broke the gaze and looked around realizing that no one was talking. They were all glancing back and forth between Gil and Sara.

"So Sara was engaged to Michael until Gil asked her to come to work in Vegas, and then in Vegas she ends up dating a dude named Hank, who is apparently a huge SOB who got her pregnant." Mel paused trying to figure everything out. "And you're moving to Vegas because you don't have enough guts to work with your ex boyfriend for some stupid reason," now looking at Hannah and Roger, "and Hannah is moving in here since she is engaged to her boss. Did I get it all right?" Mel had a smirk gracing her facial features, and receiving several wicked stares from people she adds, "I'm going to join Maria in the living room."

After Mel walked out to joining Maria in the living room Sara caught Gil's gaze. "Can I talk to you," she asked, "privately."

Without answering Gil stood up and walked over to her, taking her hand in his, "Let's take a walk."

Gil and Sara were walking on the sidewalk in silence. After walking three blocks, Sara rested her hang on Gil's arm before turning herself to look at him. "We seriously need to talk. There were some things said that shouldn't have been said, especially from them. They should have known not to bring it up."

"But I'm glad they did."

Sara was in awe, she didn't know how to respond to that but she knew she had to say something. "I…I..don't ummm know what to say, except why?"

"If they hadn't said anything then I would have gone and made a fool out of myself." Gil responded taking her hand off his arm and proceeded to walk ahead.

"Gil." Sara started, not moving forward. "What do you mean?" Sara voice was getting louder. "Gil!"

Starting to walk again, but not quite catching up, Sara thought about what he could have meant by that. Her mind was racing for ideas, one and only one popped into her head.

_No! Oh god, what if that _is_ what he was going to do. But how would that make him a complete fool?_ Sara stopped her racing thoughts and closed the distance between them.

"I don't love Michael, wait no, that came out wrong. I do love Michael but I'm not in love with him Gil. He is like a brother to me. Yes we were in a relationship and yes we were engaged, but then that was until I fell in love with you."

Suddenly Gil stopped dead in his tracks. Sara kept walking until she realized he stopped, "Gil what's wrong?"

"Just thinking. It's nothing important." Gil responded as he walked towards her, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissing her passionately.

When they broke away for air, Gil brought a hand to her cheek, and the other entwined with her fingers, "Am I too late?"

"Of course you aren't. Why do–" Gil cut her off, by raising her left hand so she could see it.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Ok, just so you know, I will not be around for the next two weeks. I won't be posting anything in those two weeks, I'm sorry, but I will be writing, so I will have something up sometime soon, and it'll be a big chapter! Hope you like this one, reviews are always welcome.

Thicker than Blood Part 7

Still standing out on the sidewalk four blocks away from Roger's house, Sara was speechless. She couldn't even think of any words that could be meaningful.

The whole time she was thinking of something to say, there was that smile, that smile and what it did to him. Gil looked at her knowing that she was speechless, but happy.

Sara's mind was now blank, she couldn't even think of words. No thoughts running through her head. So she did the only thing that made any sense. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a passionate kiss. They didn't break apart until they almost passed out from the lack of oxygen. But when they did, they both had childish grins gracing their facial features.

"So does that answer your question?" Gil asked, moving a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well that wasn't really a question more like a statement, but you were the one to pose it." Sara smirked.

"Think about the question, statement rather that you said at the hospital."

"Come home, to me," Sara quoted herself. This time it was Gil who captured her lips with his. "I think..that we…should…start heading..back" Sara said in between breaths.

Gil entwined their fingers and started walking back towards Roger's.

When they arrived back at the house all the adults were in the living room drinking. Warren and Michelle were slightly drunk, Hannah was tipsy, and Roger was completely sober.

Hannah spotted Sara and jumped off the couch almost falling to the floor, but managed to get over to her wrapping her into a hug. "Everything Ok?" she slurred into Sara's ear. With a nod from Sara, Hannah hands her a beer.

"Nah, I don't want any, Han." Sara said handing it back to Hannah. "Maybe sometime later in the week."

"Guess what!" Michelle squealed.

"You and Warren are back together and you aren't coming to Las Vegas?" Sara said hopefully.

"How'd you know?" Michelle asked sounding sad.

"A good guess, I guess. I've know the both of you for a long time, you really think that you two are going to be able to spend more than a few months apart?" Sara smiled at Warren as she said this.

"Hey did either of you see Michael when you went for your walk?" Roger asked concern masking his face.

"No why?" Sara and Gil said in unison.

"His car is still in the driveway and he hasn't come back yet."

"Oh well he's probably getting smashed at the bar," Hannah said, knowing full well that Sara would be infuriated.

"He hasn't stopped drinking!" Sara asked looking around to everyone in the room.

Everyone caught the glances from each other, Warren was the only one brave enough to divulge information regarding Michael. "He quit Sar, right before he moved to Vegas. He had been there for three months working for the feds. Then that day he saw you, he picked it up again. And you know full well why. It's no secret to any of us anymore. Well except for Gil, but we can always fix that." He smirked when he was done.

"If you all know then he should know that I don't love him that way, he knows! This isn't news to him!" Sara was enraged that they were trying to pin it on her. "He claims that he read my letters and e-mails. If he had then he should understand why I left. Worse part is that I walked into the addiction. But at least I admit that I had it! He acted like he was invincible! He came to see me in Vegas before he moved there, he was drunk off his ass, and he drove there. You guys are supposed to be his friends and take his keys when you bring him to a fucking bar! Hell you always took mine!" With that Sara stormed out of the room.

"Remind me to never piss her off again!" Warren stated.

"You've just experienced the first stage of the Sidle Wrath." Gil said amusingly as he walked off to find Sara.

"Did anyone notice that Sara had a ring on?" Michelle asked to a silent room.

Everyone looked at each other then Hannah and Michelle ran off to find Sara.

"Maybe she seriously is happy." Roger said from his seat on the couch.

--

Gil went searching around the house for Sara. Going through every room to find her in the study where she would be sleeping that night. Maria and Mel were playing games on the computer while Sara watched.

"Sara, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Gil, I'm sorry, I'm just pissed that they still act like Michael and I are supposed to be together." She breathed out.

Gil reached out and placed his hang over hers that was resting on the back of the chair. He gave it a gently squeeze and when she gave him a slight smile, he wrapped and arm around her waist. A gesture of comfort.

--

About 15 minutes later Hannah and Michelle come storming up the stairs, bend down to place their hands on their knees to catch their breath. "There you are!" Michelle said as she stood up.

"Yeah I needed to cool down. Easiest way: stay around kids." Sara responded with a week smile.

"I noticed something when you were all talking." Michelle said.

"Okay."

"Well, we want details woman! Details! You know what we are talking about so don't act like you don't!" Hannah filled in, like an anxious little girl on Christmas Day.

"Well what if I don't want to talk about it with you two?" Sara asked mischievously.

"Let's see….what could we do…..to you…if ya don't tell." Hannah drawled

"Remember, I know how to dispose of a body so no one will find it!" Sara said with a smirk.

Grissom was having trouble holding back a chuckle.

"And we don't!?" Michelle questioned.

Sara just started laughing and walked down stairs, Grissom followed behind her.

"Hey guys, I'm going to pick up Michael." Roger said as he opened the door.

"Where is he?" Sara asked.

"Miranda called and said that he is too drunk to even lift his head. I need to get him before he does something stupid." And with that Roger walked out of the house.

It was around 10 o'clock at night when Roger walked back into the house practically dragging Michael. Michael hadn't quite passed out yet because everyone could still hear him mumbling. He obviously thought he was still alone. Roger recruited Warren to help him get Michael upstairs to sleep it off in the study.

"Sara, Michael has to sleep this off before he can go home, and I put him on the couch in the study. Which means that we need to discuss who to vacate a room so you can sleep." Roger said as he walked back down the stairs.

"She can sleep with me in the guest room." Gil suggested turning his head to see her face, "If that's okay with you."

"Why wouldn't it be okay?" Sara asked with a confused look on her face.

"I didn't think you would have a problem with it, but I just thought I'd ask." Gil said coolly.

"Roger, I will share a room with Gil." Sara responded with a smile gracing her face.

Roger shifted to look at Gil, "Shame, Shame." Roger walked over to go sit with Hannah on the couch opposite Sara and Gil.

"So you two are engaged." Sara started, "how did that happen?"

"You first Sidle!"

"Back to surnames Kant, or should I say LeBlanc?" Sara retorted with a smirk.

"Ok, I give up," Hannah moved out of her comfortable embrace with Roger to sit on the floor, with her back against the couch. Sara did the same and they launched into stories on how they became engaged to their true loves.

Gil and Roger watched the interaction between their lovers, "Looks like we are going to be seeing a lot more of each other," Roger said moving to the same couch as Gil so he doesn't have to talk over the women discussing dresses and flowers.

"That's not always a bad thing, is it?"

"Nah, just saying, they were inseparable when they were at Berkley, and now since we're friends, I have a feeling they are going to be planning a lot together." Roger responded.

Gil chuckled at the thought of Sara planning a wedding.

"Want a drink?" Roger asked interrupting Gil's thoughts.

"You have any scotch?"

"Of course I do, be back in a few." And with that Roger left the room.

Gil listened to the women's conversation.

"Hey Han, I have a question for you." Sara said.

"And I you." Hannah remarked.

"Ok, we say ok three." Sara said.

"One…Two…Three." They said in unison.

"Willyoubemymaidofhonor?" the women said in unison and so fast Grissom strained to hear it. They burst into shrieks and giggles, when Roger walked back into the room.

"I see that they are enjoying themselves." Roger said handing a glass to Gil.

"I haven't seen her smile like that in a long time." Gil said looking over to his friend.

"Hey, Roger, where are Michelle and Warren, I haven't seen them in a while." Hannah said and could see the anger rising in him.

"Didn't I tell them to stay out of the bedrooms and closets!?" Roger questioned.

"But did you tell them to stay out of the bathroom?" Sara asked turning around to see the look on his face.

As Roger stormed out of the room to hunt down Warren and Michelle, Sara said, "I'm going to go and check on the girls, Maria needs to sleep soon."

"Ok," Gil said and grabbed her hand when she stood up. Putting his drink on the end table he pulled her down into his lap and kissed her passionately. "How are we going to tell the guys back at the lab?" He whispered in her ear.

"We'll talk about that when we are both back in Vegas," Sara paused to get up, "together."

Walking up the stairs and entering the study where the girls were last seen. Peering in, "Hey girls, do you want to go get ready for bed?" Sara whispered trying not to disturb Michael.

Sara crouched down when she saw Maria walking over to her. She picked Maria up, "Let's get you to bed."

"Please" Maria breathed out.

"Mel, are you going to stay up some more?"

"Yeah but I am going to read in bed. I'm guessing we are going to be sharing a room." Pointing to Maria.

"Yeah is that okay," Sara asked.

"No Problem, she doesn't take up much room." Mel let out a chuckle.

---

"Hey they are asleep, I think Mel was more tired than she thought." Sara said letting her body fall onto the couch next to Gil.

"You should get some sleep too. You've had a pretty rough day." Gil said draping an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah I know, but I'm not going to sleep without someone next to me!" Sara said with a smirk.

"Com'on let's go."

"Hold on, I need to go see Hannah for a minute, to see what's going on with Michelle and Warren."

"Ok." Gil pulled out a book as Sara walked out of the room.

"Hey Han, what is going on with Michelle and Warren?"

"Roger caught them in the middle of…yeah and I have a feeling he is going to have a hard time sleeping tonight since he practically screamed bloody murder when he opened the door." Hannah was having a lot of trouble suppressing her laughter.

"Didn't he knock first?"

"Of course not, apparently it didn't come to his brilliant mind that they could be doing more than necking in there."

"Oh joy this is just what I need, an interesting week!" Sara replied.

"So how are you doing with the girls? Eric left you with a handful."

"Yeah well I didn't even know Maria existed until I saw Mel holding her at the police station."

"Must have been interesting seeing Eric after all this time."

"Not really, I barely talked to him, I remember running out of the room, and Griss coming to find me. Comforting me actually and Eric is in jail so we won't be seeing him anything soon."

"Yeah I heard, Roger filled me in." Hannah paused, wanting to change the mood, "So what do you want to do this week? And no coming to the lab! You are off this week!"

"But what if I have a legit reason for going to the lab?"

"You can only go to the lab to bring Gil his lunch and eat with him, no longer than his break! You hear me?!"

"Yes, Mother!"

"While I am in my mother mode, you should get some sleep, it's past midnight and don't give me any of that insomnia bullshit, you need sleep!"

"You sound just like Jordi!" Sara said hugging her friend before heading back into the living room.

When Sara noticed Gil asleep with his head against the back of the couch, she melted. Kissing his temple, "Gil wake up, let's go upstairs, it's more comfortable."

"MMM.."

"Com'on let's go."

"But I don't wanna." He said childishly.

"Sleep, comfortable bed," Sara didn't want to bribe him to come upstairs. She knew that she wouldn't have been able to sleep well, or at all if he wasn't beside her. "Com'on please!?" Sara started to beg.

Gil pulled her down once again to his lap. Opening his eyes slightly, he leaned forward and kissed her. She was the one that deepened the kiss which caused Gil to squirm underneath her.

"Getting a little excited Gilbert?" Sara teased.

"Huh?" Gil was taken out his daze by her question.

He finally got the hint when he saw her glance down.

"Oh"

Sara chuckled, "Com'on let's go."

"MMM.." Gil murmured.

"Han, we are going to bed."

"No screaming, moaning, groaning, or anything loud." Hannah screamed at them.

"But you just screamed." Sara said getting a 'you know what I mean look' from Hannah.

"Don't worry Hannah, I think we're just going to sleep tonight." Gil filled in giving a warm smile towards Sara. Who returned it.


End file.
